LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



s 



;Sliell'_ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




^ -^ -^' 



THE 



Dancing Imps of the Wine; 



OB. 



STORIES AND FABLES, 



BY 



y 



ANGELO. 



NEW YORK: 

HURST & CO., PUBLISHERS 

133 Nassau Street, 

1630. 








^>^^ 



PREFACE. 



These Stories and Fables may read as if 
they sprang into existence as lightly and natu- 
rally as the Flowers of the Garden or the 
Fruits of the Orchard. But they are the 
result of deep thought, and of a close siu'vey 
of the motives and actions of men, women, 
and cliildren. Often when a superficial reader 
will but see, as it were, the calm, heaven- 
reflecting sea, the patient searcher after truths 
will discover in the ocean's depths vast forests 
of beautiful marine plants, beneath whose 
waving branches lie paths beautified by pink 
and white coral, variegated weeds, and ever- 
mm-mm-ing shells. 



4 PREFACE. 

Like the Greek Philosopher, all the writer 

asks of his critics is to "Strike, but hear!" 

— satisfied to rest his claims to fame on the 

unbiassed, unpurchasable verdict of a great, 

free people, whose second sober thought is 

always right. 

Angelo. 




CONTENTS. 



PAET I.— STORIES. 

TAOK 

The Dancing Imps of the Wine, .... 7 

The Silver Fairy, 16 

The Skeleton on the Wall, 25 

A Christmas Story, 28 

The Frog Jubilee of Animals, 45 

The Feast of Flowers, 103 

The Four Angels. A l^rcam 134 

The Haunted Castle, 145 



PAET II.— FABLES. 

PAGE 

The Rose and the Lily, 1C5 

The Pearl and the Diamond, .... 168 

Night and Day, 173 

The Fox and the Goose 179 



Q CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The Cat and the Mouse, 182 

Light and Shadow, 185 

The Do? and the Cat, 188 

The Wind and the Air, 191 

The Butterfly and the Ants, 196 

The Peacock and the Canary-Bird, . . . 201 

Winter and Spring, 209 

The Bear and the Bees, 213 

The Sun and the Snow, 217 

The Mirror and the Beauty, 222 

Tlie Cloud and the Sunbeam, 230 

The Seasons, 238 



^^c^/S^ 







THE 



DANCING IMPS OF THE WINE. 



A. D R E ^ IM. 

«CK»«* 

A STORY TOLD BT A GRANDFATHER TO HIS CHILDREN. 




^ i^ N my younger days, drinking was more 
connnon than it is now. It was the 
custom, then, always to place liquor on 
the dimier-table. 

One evening I had been drinking some spark- 
ling wine ; and the fiunes getting into my brain, 
I fell asleep. 

Suddenly I heard httle feet pattering upon 
the table; and the most musical laughter re- 
sounded through the room. It sounded like 
the tinkling of glassy crystals. 



8 DANCING IMPS OF THE WINE. 

Opening my eyes half stupidly, I saw the 
queerest ^dsion. Little sparkling imps were 
dancing all around me on the table. 

" Hello ! " said I. " Who are you, and whence 
do you come ? " 

"Oh!" replied a little imp, with a chuckle, 
"don't you know? — you old ignoramus, you 
lazy old fool, you fuddled old nightcap ! " 

"No!" said I. 

"Well, then, we'll enlighten you; w^e'll put 
some knowledge into your crazy old head. 

"We are the Imps of the Wine. We have 
been corked in, and imprisoned this many a 
year, in yonder old black bottle. 

"But you have uncorked us, and given us 
freedom; and now we have expanded to our 
natm'al size. You saw us, but a few moments 
ago, dancing up and down in the wine you 
drank, like sparkling air-bubbles. 

" Some of us have got into your head, and 
made you tipsy. Some have got into your heart, 



DANCING IMPS OF THE WINE. 9 

and made you feel young again. Some are 
tickling yom' brain with all sorts of queer 
fancies. Some will get into your feet, and hold 
you captive, so that you will reel and stagger 
as you try to walk." 

I gazed at them in amazement, as they 
twisted and twirled and tumbled and jumped 
and danced and dodged, — seeming so Hght 
and airy. 

Soon they became uproarious, and shouted 
and screamed in their merry glee. One got in 
each ear, and sang a gay song. Another climbed 
up m my nose, and danced a hornpipe there. 
Some got on my head, and leaped and scratched 
in my hau\ Others jumped into my whiskers, 
and, hanging there, swung back and forth, chat- 
tering merrily. 

They crept up my arm, and began to tickle 
me. They crept down my back, stroking it 
gently with their little ghstening nails, until 
they almost set me crazy. 



10 BANCIIfG IMPS OF THE WINE. 

They played hide-and-seek through my cloth- 
ing. At last my whole body was alive with 
these little frolicsome imps. 

"You rascals!" I screamed; "get off, and 
away with you!" 

They opened their little mouths, showing 
little shining diamond-like teeth, and laughed 
m derision ; then suddenly stooped down, and 
pointed their tiny fingers to the wall. 

'Twas covered vd\\\ portraits and other paint- 
ings. A dog in one sprang fi-om his place, — 
began to bow-wow, to dance on his liind legs, 
and caper with wild delight. 

A tree in another pictm-e moved out, and, 
standing in the center of the room, began to 
shake its leaves. 

A horse in another leaped do-svn, and began 
to trot around the room, — neighing loudly, 
snuffing the air in proud disdain, and prancing 
wildly. 

Said I, " The room is bewitched." And all 



DANCING IMPS OF THE WINE. H 

the imps nodded and laughed gleefully, tapping 
me with their tiny fingers ; and, in mockery, 
even poking them into my very eyes. 

Some faces in a pictm-e opened then* eyes and 
winked at me. They rolled their heads out of 
the frames and saluted me. One even opened 
his mouth and laughed. 

A lovely black-eyed witch in another kissed 
her hand to me, and shook her raven curls. 

In another, there was a peasant fishing with 
a long rod. Suddenly he swung it aromid, and 
gave me such a whacking thump with it, that it 
made my ears ring ; and the little imps screamed 
"Ha! ha! served you right!" and all the pic- 
tures shouted, in chorus, " Ha ! ha ! " 

I looked on the floor. Was I di'eaming? 
The chairs and tables seemed to have legs and 
feet. They began to waltz ; and queer little 
heads peeped out of their tops, all covered with 
thick matted hair, — of white and red, black 
and yellow. 



12 DANCING IMPS OF THE WINE. 

They arranged themselves in line, and, dash- 
ing at each other, pulled each other's hair out 
by handfulls, until the room seemed filled with 
feathers from the floating hair. Then they 
disappeared; and the carpet had all kinds of 
flowers, in beautiful wi-eaths, upon it. 

These began to rise on tall green stems, to put 
out little shoots and branches, in which little 
buds began to grow and expand, until the whole 
room was full of perfume. 

The wall-paper was all striped up and down, 
and the stripes seemed to start out; and, like 
snapping whips flying around me, cracked their 
snappers into my very face. Then they twisted 
themselves around my legs, like so many coiling 
snakes. 

One pictm'e was full of chickens, ducks, and 
geese. All at once they flew out; and, run- 
ning around on the floor, began to cackle, and 
crow, and hiss, till the noise aroimd me was 
terrific. 



DANCING IMPS OF THE WINE. 13 

A green snake, coiled np in one corner of the 
picture, began slowly to unwind ; and, darting 
out his tongue and elongating himself, liissed 
into my very ear. 

In another corner was a bee, which began to 
fly about, and kept buzzing around my head, — 
lighting at last on my nose, and stung me. 

I half arose with the pain, when, all at once, 
the imps shouted and leered at me furiously; 
and, with their little feet kicked me in the sides, 
scratched my head, pulled my nose, and tugged 
at my hair and whiskers. 

Then one imp, — larger, wilder, and more 
wicked than the rest, — suddenly gave a loud 
whistle, and all in the room began to thump 
and beat me. 

The horse kicked me on the shin ; the dog got 
hold of my leg; the chickens and geese picked 
at my face with theu' bills ; the tables and chairs 
leaped into the air, and punched me in the head ; 
the tree fell over on me, and broke my leg ; the 



14 DAA'CING IMPS OF TEE WINE. 

fisherman hooked me in the eye; the snake 
crawled romid and round my waist, hissing into 
my ears, looking into my eyes, and kissing my 
lips vnXh its darting fangs; the bee lit in the 
other eye, half putting it out; while the young 
girl pulled my nose, and all the httle imps kicked 
at me incessantly, — the whips from the wall 
meanwhile slashing continually. 

I tell you I was frightened. I tried to start 
up, but could not. My ears were stunned with 
the noise, and I almost went mad with the pain. 
Again I started up, and I thought the horse gave 
me a terrible kick m the back, which made me 
leap in agony; — when, lo! I saw an old neigh- 
bor before me, who, just coming in, had given 
me a slap on the back, crying, "What! ho! 
neighbor! has tlie wine got the best of you? 
Wliy, you were fau-ly lialf-seas over ! " And he 
laughed at my dismay. 

I tell you I could hardly believe my deliver- 
ance was real; and the dream so impressed me, 



DANCING IMPS OF THE WINE. 



15 



that, fi'om that horn* I forswore wine, and all its 
dancing imps. 

From that day I have never tasted it ; and, mj 
children, it will be well for yon to follow my 
example; or else the imps may get into your 
head, and torture you as they did me; — perhaps 
lead you into crime, even into mm*der, and so 
doom you forever. 




16 



THE SILVER FAIRY. 




THE SILVER FAIRY. 




GROUP of merry children, of both 
sexes, were wandering in the woods, 
when, all of a sudden, a shower of 
nuts came raining down upon them. 

Surprised, they looked up, and saw the queerest 
tiny object perched upon the branches. Fright- 
ened, tliey were about to rmi away, when the 
softest, sweetest voice, ever heard, told them to 
stay, and she would come down. 

" My little fi-iends," she said, " I am the Fau-y 
of these woods." 

She had little silver wings to her sides, a robe 
of silver spangles around her, and a beautiful 
silver wand in her hand, whose pomt was tipped 



HE SIL VEB FAIRY. 17 

with a tiny redbird's head ; and, instead of eyes, 
were two lovely shining pearls. 

On her head she wore a silver crown, soft and 
open as if lace, — its points all glittering with 
flashing diamonds. Her eyes were heavenly 
blue, large and radiant in hght; and her soft 
silky hau-, in curhng tresses, shone like the 
wliitest flax. 

She shook her wand, and the air was filled 
mth silver snow. She tapped the trunk of the 
tree with her wand, and it opened, showing a 
hole within ; and out leaped a pau' of snow-white 
reindeers, with silver bells and harness ; and also 
a beautiful tiny sleigh, all of frosted silver, and 
full of sparkling radiance. 

The robes were very thick and soft, and pure 
white. The reins were of silver cord; and the 
Iming, cushion, and carpet of the sleigh, were 
made of silver cloth. 

" Come ! " said the Fairy, " who is a good girl ? 
Who is a good boy ? Wlio go to school regu- 



1 8 THE SIL VEB FAIR Y. 

larljj obey their parents, and are kind to their 
brothers, sisters, and their Uttle pets ? Who are 
pohte to strangers, and coui'teous to all 1 " 

All stood silent! 

"Wliat! are none of you good?" 

Up started a little black-headed witch, with 
bold, blazmg, dark, bright eyes, and said, — 

" My brother is good ! " 

" Is he ? Then enter, boy. What is his name ? " 

"Freddy." 

"Well, Freddy! jump in, and take a glorious 
ride." 

" Sissy is good ! " said a little m-chin. 

"Well! what is her name?" 

"Katy." 

"Well, Katy! go in, too." 

So, one after another, attracted by the lovely 
sleigh, and the pretty reindeers, all were foimd 
to be good, at last ! And all went in. 

Round and round, thi'ough the trees, whirling 
and whirling, they kept on, till at last, descend- 



THE SILVER FAIBY. 19 

ing a great liill, the sleigh flew over, and they 
all laughed in glee; but no one was hurt. 

So, on and on, agaui they rode up and up 
the mountam side, till at last they reached 
the summit. 

On the smnmit was a fairy's silver castle. 
The sun shone on it so beautifully, and its walls 
were so polished, you could see your face in it 
like a mh'ror. 

The castle was full of silver turrets ; and queer 
little silver images were sitting on each tm-ret, 
with silver horns in then* moutlis, playing most 
dehghtful melody. 

As they entered the castle-doors, these horns 
all at once blew a terrible blast, — so loud that 
the castle shook. 

Then a band of spirits, all dressed in silver 
lace, light and gauzy, came forth and led us 
within. 

The walls were of silver, decorated with beau- 
tiful flowers, leaves, and trees, engraved thereon, 



20 THE SILVER FAIMY. 

— with silver ■wi-eatlis in graceful foldings all 
around them, — strikingly beautiful. 

The floors were raised up like a network of 
silver, in superb diamond patterns, and orna- 
mental work. 

The chairs were of the same metal, looking 
like strange images perched on carved legs, very 
beautiful . 

Silver lounges, made hke a wreath of .wings 
all entwined together, marvelously beautiful 
and curious, and matted with snow-white down, 
were placed around tlie room. 

Lovely pictm-es graced the walls, adorned with 
exquisite silver fi-ames of the rarest workman- 
ship and most ornamental patterns. 

Gauzy curtains of silver fleece hung down 
fi-om the mndows, like cm'hng clouds rolling 
o'er and o'er each other. 

" I suppose you wonder, my children, you see 
so much silver ! But in these woods and moun- 



TEE SILVER FAIRY. gl 

tains are vast mines, and I am Goddess of the 
ore. So silver is the symbol of my rank." 

In the green pastm'es were beautiful snow- 
white horses and cattle, sheep, and hogs, in 
droves, — all as white as the driven snow. 

In the stables, around the castle, silver harness 
m many a cm-ious pattern was hung up, with 
fauy-like exquisitely ornamented silver phae- 
tons on the floors. 

The tables, all of sohd silver, covered with 
silver, damask, and napkins, adorned the room. 

The dishes, knives, and forks, and every utensil 
used, were of the same metal, chased and en- 
graved in fanciful devices. 

The servants were all dressed in tissues, like 
floating down, of the same ore; and it was a 
wondi'ous glittering sight, when the sun shone 
on all this splendor. 

Suddenly a great giant, like a mighty metal 
statue, all studded o'er with glittering white 



22 THE SILVER FAIBY. 

diamonds, blew a great silver trumpet, sending 
forth a silvery peal; and, as if by magic, the 
great table in the center of tlie hall vt^as loaded 
with the most delicious fruits and nuts. 

The Fauy bade us sit down and eat. Such 
delicious melons, juicy grapes, such downy 
peaches, apricots, and nectarines, such sweet 
oranges, were never seen before. 

They ate and ate till they could eat no more. 

"Who," said the Fauy, "is the best child 
amongst you all?" 

No one answered! 

" Come ! I'll give you little bits of silver paper, 
and lend you little silver pencils. Then you can 
write, with some of my silver ink, the name of 
hun or her you thinlv the best." 

Instinct is wonderful! For all, without ex- 
ception, wi'ote the names of Katy and Fred. 

"Come here, my little dears!" And she 
placed a chain around Katy's neck, with a tiny 
watch attached, and a lovely ring upon her 



THE SILVER FAIBT. 23 

finger, and a rich bracelet on her wi-ist, — all of 
most beautiful silver patterns. 

To Freddy she gave a paii- of skates, a knife, 
and a hammer, — all of the same ore, very beau- 
tiful. To the others she gave nothing. 

So, you see, my children, the good in the 
end are always rewarded. 

Then the doors suddenly opened, and a great 
band of musicians, all dressed in silver cloth, 
were seated on a silver throne, with silver in- 
struments in their hands. 

All at once they played such tunes it thrilled 
us through and through, — so gay, so joyous, so 
full of spirit. 

Each httle sprite took one of us by the 
hand, and whirled us round and round in the 
dance. 

We seemed to dance as if on feathers, — as if 
we danced on air. More lively grew the music, 
till, as we spun round and round, all objects 
disappeared, and we seemed to be in a whirling 



24 TUE SILVER FAIRY. 

air of silver, and the music sounded like a liquid 
buzzing. 

The whole earth seemed of silver. It seemed 
as if God had suddenly thrown this metal veil 
o'er Creation, — everything looked so strangely 
beautiful. 

Suddenly we were transported through the 
air, as if on wings, and alighted at the foot of 
the same tree; and a voice in the air said to us, 
"Be good little children, and you often can 
come to the silver castle, and enjoy its music, 
and the dance." 

Then the Silver Fairy bid us all good day. 




THE SKELETON ON TEE WALL. 



25 




THE 



SKELETON ON THE WALL 



j^ r> R E ^^ m:. 




H, tell us a strange dream ! " said all the 
grandchildren, "do!" So the old gen- 
tleman gratified their wishes. 
" A lady told me this story, and said it was a 
true one. It is called ' Skeleton on the Wall.' 
"I dreamed I was staying at my sister's 
house ; and in the bedroom was a stove near the 
wall, lighted with a coal fire. 

"I slept; and suddenly I saw the wall open 
near the stove, wliich gave a misty light around 
the room; and a gaunt, weird skeleton, moved 
slowly out, having a strange fleshy hue in the 
soft glow of this half-smouldering fire. 



26 THE SKELETON ON THE WALL. 

"It solemnly, slowly advanced to my bed- 
side, with its long bony arm and hand extended 
toward me. Reacliing my bed, it stopped, and 
holding its arm o'er tny head, and gazing fixed- 
ly with an a^vfl^l glare into my very eyes, 
solemnly pronounced these words : " Co'ine loith 
ine! yotir time is up!'''' and thrice waved its 
arm o'er me; and then, with a strange gleam 
in its stony eyes, pointed its long fleshless arm 
on high. 

"1 saw on its bony finger outstretched, a 
signet emerald, very curious, I thought it an 
evergreen gem, — a type of Immortality. 

"Its arm fell slowly, solemnly, to its side, 
again. It stood a moment, and gazed at me, 
as if to impress me indelibly ^vith its words, 
murmuring, '■ JRemeiixber !'' Then turned and 
mai-ched back again, — when the wall opened, 
and it disappeared. 

"It made a wonderful impression on my 
mind; and a few weeks afterwards my sister's 



THE SKELETON ON THE WALL. 27 

husband came home, sick and weary, from the 
South. 

"He was placed in that same chamber, and 
in a short time died. 

"At the funeral I remembered my dream; 
and as I gazed at Ids a^\^ul, thin, wasted, pale, 
marble form and face, it seemed as if the skel- 
eton was there, and gazed out of liis dead eyes, 
and his emaciated featm'es. And there, sm*e 
enough, on his long, withered, bony finger, 
ghttered an emerald!^'' 

" Oil, Grandpa ! that is an awful story. Tell 
us another fairy story." 

"I'll try, my children, and do my best to 
please." 

And he told tliis Christmas Story. 




28 



A CHRISTMAS STOUT. 




A CHRISTMAS STORY. 




IME, Chi'istmas Morn. On a very sun- 
ny day, beneath a, porch fronting the 
South. 

'Twas a Christmas Morn, so beautiful! — as 
if God had sent down His sweetest light upon 
the earth. The snow lay upon the ground in 
feathery masses, M'hile diamonds glittered on 
the trees, the slu-ubbery, and every object 
aroimd. 

'Twas almost a fairy scene. That neat old 
farm house, with its green blinds, and snow 
white paint ; its roomy porch, surromided Avith 
Imge towering evergreens, while here and there 



A CHRISTMAS STORY. 29 

a stately oak loomed up to view, like an old 
giant, its great arms clasping the skies. 

The house stood upon a sloping hill, border- 
ing a sylvan lake, all frozen like a sheen of 
glass. The sun arose on that rm'al scene in a 
pure lustrous gold. 

'Twas a heavenly light reflecting on that 
happy home, and lighting up such a group of 
merry faces. 

On the porch, enjoying the sunny air, sat an 
aged woman, wi-apped in furs. Her rich silver 
tresses hung down fi'om beneath her snowy 
Hnen cap, and such a face! Almost as fair, 
with its soft flush, as that of childhood, — a face 
that belonged to a pure and happy life, — a 
good sweet face, full of pensive loveliness, and 
a kindly smile. 

" Ah, Ganny ! " said a lovely urcliin only four 
years old, his dark dreamy eyes and fair rosy 
face almost concealed beneath a wealth of golden 
tresses, that looked like the sunbeams, in their 



30 A CHRISTMAS STORY. 

rich and silky i-lcnv. " Ah, Ganny ! do tell some 
putj 'toiy." And with a kiss from his rosebud 
mouth, he coaxed the old lady to amuse him. 

"Yes, yes!" all chimed in, "do tell!" 

Ah! 'twas a sight of glory to see tliose eager 
young faces, all aglow, lit up with pleasure, — 
all intent to listen; their j^outliful fancies on 
tiptoe "wdth expectation, — the dark brunette, the 
fair blonde, — some tall and stately; some stout 
and portly; some sad and musing; some wild, 
gay, and prattling, — of all sizes and ages, — 
watching their grandma's face to hear her speak, 
tlieir eyes sparkling with glee. 

Some came up and crouched at her knee; 
others put their little hands upon her shoulders. 
The little urchin climbed into her lap, — while 
some stood rapt, and gazed into her eyes; and 
one even left the porch and stood beneath the 
open sky. 

A stillness like death fell on all around, while 
the grandma thus spoke: — 



A CHRISTMAS STORT. 31 

"My children, I well remember many and 
many a loftg year ago, — for now I am seventy, 
us yon all know, — when I was a child, twelve 
years old, I had a dream, and such a dream! 
So strange and odd!" 

"Yes! yes!" all replied, with eager delight. 

"Do! do! Ganny!" said little four-year-old. 
And he shook his golden curls, clapped his 
hands in merry glee, and laughed aloud. 

"At that age, I was full of strange fancies, 
for I used to read many Christmas stories, full 
of fables, fairy sprites, and dancmg imps. That 
afternoon I read such a story; and when I went 
to bed, my little head was bewildered. 

"It seemed as if faii-ies Avere all around me, 
and unps were dancing in my brain ; and I could 
hear the sprites whisper in my ears, and strange 
antics were playing all around me. 

" It seemed as if I was bewitched ; and my 
little head, full of these follies, kept spinning 
round and round, till at last, weary, I slept; 



32 ^ CHRISTMAS STORY. 

but 'twas a broken sleep. I would turn over in 
restlessness, sometimes; tben I started up in 
affi-iglit. Again, I spoke and laughed in my 
slumber. I was half conscious of some unusual 
stir in my chamber and in my brain ; — and such 
a dream! 

" I thouo;ht I was sailino- upon a laro;e river. 
The boat seemed of blue, lilce the sky, with a 
sail of gold. 'Twas a long, slim, fairy kind of 
boat, pomtcd at each end, and with jewels at 
the tips. 

"The wind was laden with the j)erfimies of 
roses, and it all seemed dim and shadowy like, 
with a strange kind of purple light all around 
me. 

"A being like an angel stood at the prow, 
with outstretched wmgs and hands pointing to 
the shore. At the helm stood a shadowy figure, 
almost a spectre in its dim outline. 

"The boat ghded on, its every motion like 
the breathings of a harp, till all of a sudden it 



A CHEISTMAS STOUT. 33 

stopped in the middle of the stream; and such a 
flood of light rushed upon me, as if all the stars 
were there gazing at me, and the queerest, yet 
most delicious music ever heard, burst upon my 
ears; and before me was a sight never to be 
forgotten. 

" They Avere all dancing before an old man 
with long snow-white beard and curling locks, 
with a golden croA\ai upon his head, and a crim- 
son robe in many folds around his body. His 
eyes were blue like the heavens, and liis face 
glowed like the dawn. His arms were folded, 
and he looked like a majestic statue of repose. 

"It seemed as if all earth was there. Behind 
the old man arose in wondrous beauty and glit- 
tering transparency, a crystal palace with gleam- 
ing spires, like a vast jewel in the sun, reflecting 
all around million-colored hues of indescribable 
splendor. 

"Fountains were playing before it, sending 
up many-colored waters of most delicious per- 



34 ^ CHRISTMAS STORY. 

fumes. Now, a shower of silver fell in sparkling 
streams with the sound of little tinklhig bells; 
now 'twas of azure spray, — then it seemed all 
emerald, and again of shining gold; and where 
they fell into a crystal basin, every tiny drop 
changed into dancing imps, who gamboled and 
tumbled o'er and o'er each other, flinging upon 
the air tiny jets of foam, that gleamed like 
diamonds in the sun. 

" In that brilliant hght tliey looked like liquid 
fireworks in incessant play, yet far more won- 
derful; and as all this spray dropped gracefully 
in perpetual motion, it shone like colored jewels 
dancing in the air. 

" Around every spire of this fairy structure, a 
revolving star shot forth sparks of colored fires, 
and fell around like shining snow. Tlie whole 
air was thick with those dancing lights. 

" Around the palace were all the flowers that 
ever grew, and seemed all alive Avith peering 
eyes, tiny little hands and feet. Some shook 



A CHRISTMAS STOBT. 35 

their leaves at me ; some oped their petals as if 
about to speak; some nodded and winked; some 
cast theii' perfimies into my very nose in merry 
glee; — while others tumbled o'er and o'er, scat- 
tering their leaves upon the air. 

" There was a smile and a laugh upon every 
flower. Some seemed to sing; some to hum; 
others to wliistle ; and queer Httle figm-es would 
rise from the petals, and dance and whu4 on 
their tops, and bow then- heads to me. 

"Oil, 'twas a queer sight! and the whole air 
was buzzing with these strange sounds. The 
boat glided to the shore, and the old man beck- 
oning us to approach, the angel took me by the 
hand, and led me to him. 

" He laid his hand upon my head, as if to 
bless me. For a moment I stood bemldered, 
as though in a di"eam; and then, in cliildish 
curiosity, I asked him who he was. 

"Wliat! Httle beauty, do you not know me? 
I am called Enjoyment! Some name me 



36 ^ CRBIST2JA8 STORT. 

Pleasure! Others call me Jollity! I am 
Santa-Claus' prime minister." 

"And sm'e enough, on a throne behind him 
little Santa-Claus sat in state, grinning from ear 
to ear; and rechning upon tiger robes, half 
asleep, at his feet, were a pair of the tuiiest 
and most wonderfully beautiful snow-white rein- 
deers, — wliile scattered near the throne were 
all the gifts of the Fairies to good little children, 
such as silver trumpets, little dancing-jacks, 
squeaking dolls, false faces of negroes and 
Indians, Chinese and Turks, little hobby-horses, 
little wooden farms and menageries, and all 
those things that delight little children. 

" ' Behold ! ' said the old Patriarch, ' my king- 
dom approach, my right royal subjects!' 

"On came marching troops of animals, such 
as lions, tigers, wolves, camels, lambs, rhinoce- 
roses, &c., all decked with parti-colored ribbons, 
that waved from head to head, and wound 
around then- bodies. 



A CHRISTMAS STORY. 37 

"They danced and leaped in sportive glee, as 
if happy and grateful for another Christmas. 

"Then came, tumbling o'er and o'er each 
other, long Tribes of Fishes, — fi'om ocean, sea, 
lake, river, and stream, — dressed in gold and 
silver spangles, ever throwing from their mouths 
many-colored waters, that fell upon the air in 
perfumed spray. 

"There were dolphins and mermaids, sunfish, 
starfish, and swordfish, — horseslioes, cuttle-fish, 
and flying-fish, — whales, porpoises, sharks, &c., 
— with old Neptune at their head, holdmg aloft 
liis trident. 

" They were full of fi'olic and merry antics, 
and rolled over and under each other contin- 
ually, lea\ang their scales behind, that made 
the path look like a long line of gold and 
silver. 

"After this, all the Insect Tribe appeared: 
queer bugs and worms, fantastically striped 



38 ^ CHRISTMAS STORY. 

snakes, coiling in queer fashion round and 
round each other. 

"These sent up a mighty buzz, a prolonged 
hiss, a strange rattle, filling the air with the 
oddest sounds possible. 

"The Butterflies, in innumerable battahons, 
fairly darkening the air, like a swinging cloud, 
came floating around the old man's form. 

"Some crept into his whiskers, — others nes- 
tled in his curling locks. Again, some toyed 
^vith his eyebrows; others hid within the folds 
of his long robe. One even fluttered upon his 
lips, and there hummed his blithesome song. 
They were beautiful as sailing rainbows, — all 
light and radiance. 

"All the Birds of the Au- breathed forth 
then* souls in music as tliey came winging on, 
flock after flock, all joy and carol, — light and 
cheery as a zeph}T. There were cooing doves, 
robin redbreasts, bobolinks, soft-voiced nightin- 
gales, little wrens, whippoorwills, golden cana- 



A CHEISTJfAS STOHY. 39 

ries, gold and silver pheasants, bobwhites, witch- 
ing magpies, chattering parrots, enchanting 
mocking-birds, — all filling the ah' with a para- 
dise of sweet songs, — a living glory to all 
around. 

" The Fruits then passed on, with their httle 
round bodies stuck on two pipestem legs; and 
httle eyes all around them, and mouths all over 
their bodies. 

" They kept continually rolling their eyes at 
me as they marched, grimiing and opening 

their mouths, as they danced and leaped fan- 
tastically. 

" They seemed to have voices ; for one said, 
'How pale he is!' — referring to a white peach. 
'Oh, my! how yellow!' — gazing at a young 
lemon. 'Look! is he not red-faced?' — point- 
ing to a blushing apple. 'How purple!' — look- 
mg at a right royal grape. 'All! how she 
blushes!' — examining a luscious peach. 'The 
down is just growing, — only a fledging!' — 



40 ^ CHRISTMAS STORY. 

directing the attention to some young fruit. 
Thus they mocked each other, in frolicsome 
glee. 

"There were whole orchards of golden pears, 
pnrple plums, wax-like grapes, downy peaches, 
blushing apples, luscious melons, perfumed 
oranges, juicy pine-apples, tamarinds, dates, and 
bananas, — all moving so nice and sweet, as if 
ready to di-op into your mouth. 

"Then came — of all sights the fimniest ever 
seen — all the eggs that were ever laid by bird, 
or msect, or reptile, marching on. 

"They had little stems for necks, and two 
pipestem legs \di\\ red trousers on, and red 
buskins on their feet. Their little heads were 
covered with mops of hair, — some green, some 
blue, some white, some red, some yellow, — and 
their Httle heads kept continually bobbing up 
and down, and sometimes they entirely hid 
within their shells. 

" They took long strides, and gave themselves 



A CHRISTMAS STORY. 41 

all kinds of airs; and kept their shells far in- 
chned backwards, proud as so many walking 
peacocks. 

"Sometimes they ran all together, and yon 
could hear tlie little shells crack Hke the snap 
of a whip; and then they set up such a screech 
it made my ears tingle ! Each egg had a little 
pipe in its mouth, and all kinds of colored 
smoke curled up in tiny cloudlets, very beau- 
tiful. 

" In front, as a leader, came a big ostrich-egg, 
with a big ostrich-feather on its top, and a 
dozen such stuck all around its sides. It seemed 
almost concealed in feathers; and it kept danc- 
ing continually, and seemed like a waving of 
plumes. 

"But a stranger sight than this marched be- 
hind. 'Twas all the Feathers that ever grew, — 
one after another, like an array of plumes; 
and as they bent and swayed in the breeze. 



42 A CHRT8TMAS STORY. 

it made a mighty rnstling as if of wings, and 
each featlier wliirled round and round. 

" At times they tilled the air with soft breezes, 
indescribably delicious. It fell upon my ear 
like a lullaby. These breezes were full of odd 
tunes of sweetest melody. 

" Sometunes the air would carry one feather 
on top of another till they seemed to touch the 
sky, — then all at once dissolved, and came 
floating down, as if they were fancy plumes 
of snow. 

"The last of this curious train were the 
Fairies and Sprites, Elves and Sat}TS, Centaurs 
and Gnomes, Fauns and Wood-N}Tnphs, and 
"Water-Sprites. 

" They were loaded with blossoms, and decked 
in curious leaves; and all were playing cmious 
instruments. A Httle fauy was ensconsed in a 
buttercup, riding on the back of a huge centaur. 
A little sprite peeped out of a lily, on a satyr's 
back. A little o-nome was half hid in some 



A CHRISTMAS STORY. 43 

rose-leaves, — while some wood-nymphs were 
holding lovely bouquets, and a dozen elves 
were looking over the rims, and laughed at 
me. 

"One lovely nymph had a strange troop of 
spiders in her train, her robes being all stuck 
over with them. They were formed into bou- 
quets in her hair; and, while she walked on, 
they kept crawling all over her, making me 
shudder, as some v/ere covered with moss, being 
big and ugly. 

"All at once they stopped, and 'Merry 
Christmas!' burst upon my ear. 

" Overhead hung a great golden cloud. It 
opened; and a voice, sweeter than the song of 
the stars, spoke to the listening crowd. 

"'I am Nature! Behold my glory! — my 
people! — my treasures! I am God's servant, 
— to delight mankind, give them food and 
clothing, make them happy and content. God 
gives them music and dancing, beautiful insects, 



44 ^ CHRISTMAS STORY. 

many-colored songsters, sparkling jewels and 
fountains, luscious fruits and grains, shining 
ores, many-veined marbles, variegated woods, 
lovely-liued flowers, delicious perfumes, parents 
and cliildren, — and Christ as an atonement, who 
will lead them to Nature, and up to Nature's 
God, — who, far beyond this golden cloud, reigns 
in glory, ever waiting to crown you, like this 
old man, with a golden wreath, and bid you all 
A Merry Christmas!' 

"The cloud disappeared; and, as I looked 
around, all had vanished. Methought I stood 
alone upon the river's bank, when suddenly 
I awoke. 

" 'Twas morn ; and ' Merry Christmas ! ' fell 
upon my ear. I looked forth: there was the 
lake full before my view." 




FBOQ JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 



45 




k^i 



THE 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 




ELL US," said a little, pretty, blue-eyed 
child, to his grandfather, "a funny 
story about animals." 
I ^vill try to please you. 
There was to be a grand Frog Jubilee, one 
bright moonHght night, about midnight, when 
all the world was presumed to be asleep. 

All the animals, insects, birds, and reptiles, 
were invited to show then- grievances, trials, 
and sorrows. 

There was a great old stump in the middle 
of the stream, and the frogs gathered on that 



46 FROa JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

in immense nmnbers, — while all the animals 
were to recline upon the shore in the soft 
green grass. 

A tree, near by, would receive the birds and 
insects. 

A big Bloody-I^oun (a very large frog) was 
to be the orator of the evening, as well as pre- 
siding officer. 

Tliere was to be a great gathering of hens 
and cliickens, a-cackliug and a-cro\\dng, — ducks 
a-quacking, geese a-hissing, dogs a-barking, 
horses a-neigliing, asses a-bra}Tng, cows a-low- 
ing, sheep a-baaing, cats a-mewing, birds a- 
whistling and singing, bees a-humming, pigs a- 
gi-imting, crickets a-chirping, — even worms, 
toads, and beetles, mosquitoes, and insects. 

After all was silent, the Fkog stood up on 
his hind legs, expanded himself to his full dig- 
nity, and thus addressed them: — 

" My Friends : I thank you for this vast gath- 
ering ©f the elite of the tribes of the earth. 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 47 

I thank you warmly for this brilhant assem- 
blage of the glory of the Animal Creation. 

" I see around me many beautiful songsters : 
the buzzing fly ; the elegant, sylph-hke mosquito ; 
the gay, hopping grasshopper; the stout, sturdy 
beetle; — even the little, lowly, crawling worm. 

"This, my fi-iends, is not an aristocratic as- 
semblage, but a truly democratic gathering, 
where the lowliest has as much right as the 
grandest to speak out liis mmd and feelings. 
Let us, then, give to the Httle worm the fii'st 
right to speak." 

They all, with one acclaim, shouted, " Amen ! " 

THE WOKM 

"WTiggled up on an old log in the grass, and 
opened its tiny mouth to speak. 

"I am only a mite, yet the good God made 
me; and I think — since He took the trouble 
to make me, and gave me food to eat, air to 
breathe, and sunlight to see, — I have as much 
right to live as man. But how am I treated? 



48 f^ROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

He invents, out of old iron, a curling book 
with a sliai-p point to it, and digs in the groiuid 
to find me. He then cruelly takes me in his 
great ugly fingers, and ahve impales me on 
this hook. It runs througli my \dtals! He 
has no remorse! — no conscience! — but bru- 
tally makes me WTithe, and groan, and squirm, 
in agony. This is not all. With me he de- 
ceives the poor httle silver and gold scaly 
fishes. They thuik, poor tilings, they are going 
to have a nice dinner. Listead, they get their 
jaws cruelly pierced and torn by this awful 
hook, are driven fi-om their beautiful liqiud 
home, dragged on the hard earth, and then 
eaten by this savage monster, man!" 
They all cried, «'Tis a shame!" 

THE DOG 

then gave a "bow-wow." 

"My friend," said the Fkog, "do you msh 
to speak?" 

Another "bow-wow!" and the dog wagged 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 49 

his tail, his eye sparkled, he shook his shaggy- 
body, and stretched himself out, and holding 
up his head with great dignity, said: — 

"Although I am often treated with great 
friendship by man, — often kept as a pet, and 
allowed to frohc wath the children, which I 
return by my faithful watching of their homes, 
by my fidelity, and desire to please him, — yet 
often ugly boys throw sticks and clubs at me; 
and once they tied a tin kettle to my tail, and 
shouted so, and hooted me so much, and chased 
me %vith stones, till I was almost mad with 
running. 

"Then a great ugly boy teased me, till I 
became fmious, and bit him. He went cry- 
ing to my master, and lied about me. 

"My master, indignant, seized a club, and 
broke one of my legs. So you see, a poor 
dog has sometimes a hard time of it, even if he 
does not work. 

"Yet sometimes they put me to churning, 



50 FROO JUBILEE OF ANIMAL8. 

and force me to go on till I am ready to drop 
down dead. 

" I often drag their wagon, with my master's 
children in it. I don't mind this much; but 
often they invite the neighbor's children in, 
too; and make me drag a load only fit for 
a horse. 

"Is this right? — is this fair?" 

" No ! no ! " they all cried. 

" See how gentle I am ! They pull and haul 
me about in every fashion; and if I bite one of 
these amioyers, they cry at once, 'Mad dog! 
mad dog!' and, in their base cowardice, beat 
me unmercifully, till I die." 

Just then, although late, 

A FOX 

from the neighboring mountains came Umping 
along, tired and dust-stained. They all arose, 
and saluted him. 

"The Fox! the Fox!" and all gave him 
three cheers. 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 51 

The Fox, you must know, was a very poKtc 
fellow, very cunning and artful, very smooth 
and polished, and insinuated himself into their 
good graces with his beauty, liis elegance, and 
his honhomie. 

He was smart, too, and knoA\dng, — a kind 
of bookworm among the animals, — given to 
study and tricks, — a kind of natural conjurer, 
adroit and sharp-witted, — very fond of grapes 
and chickens! 

He looked around at some fowl near, as if 
he longed to take a bite; and no doubt would 
have made them fare, if this had not been a 
peace-meeting, and universal amity had not 
been declared. If he had dared to break the 
law, all the animals would have killed him. 

They all, Avith great politeness, invited hun 
to speak, as his home was quite far away. 

So he spruced up his fur, to look right gen- 
teel, and thus spoke: — 

"My very dear, sweet, kind friends: I return 



52 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

with very great love — especially for chickens 
(and there was a fm-tive gleam in liis cunning 
eye) — your warm welcome; and I hope here- 
after to reciprocate this noble reception (look- 
ing out of tlie corner of his eye languishingly 
at a fat duck near). 

"My sorroM's are many. Why, e^'en last 
night, as I was about to dine on a fat hen, — I 
own it, friends! — here all the poultry edged 
away fi'om him, — when, lo! I caught my foot 
in a brutal ugly trap, wliich tlie iiendish farmer 
made for me, and I lost a bit of my leg to 
get free. See here, for yourselves! 

And he held up a leg which was bloody and 
sore. They all cried, "How mean!" 

"This ugly man rode around the country 
next day, and told all the neighbors there was 
a Fox m his barnyard last night. He showed 
them all a piece of my leg. 

"The scoundrel! the scoundrel!" they all 
cried. 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 53 

"Then these big brutal men, on great beasts 
of horses, next day with great hunting-dogs, 
scoured the country to find me, 

"They ran and shouted. Tlie dogs ran and 
howled, as they smelt my track. Once they 
got a peep of me, but I dodged them round 
and round, and so got clear at last, or else 
I would not be here. 

"Think of it! A great lot of booby men 
spending time and money, wearing out the 
horses, to catch a little thing like me! One 
hundred against one! Is it manly? Is it 
fair ? 

"Ko! no!" they all cried; "'tis cowardly!" 

" So it is," said the Fox. " I agree with you. 
One or two got their deserts, any how; for 
one, in going over a fence, his horse stumbled, 
and the fool broke his leg on the top rail! I 
guess he'll remember me for some time, at 
least!" And he gaily chuckled, and licked the 



54 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

wound on his sore leg, as if the broken leg 
was a good salve for it. 

" Then another got his horse in a deep hole, 
which threw him over liis ha'', nnd broke 
the liorse's neck in the struggle. There's two 
hundred dollars for a morning's sport!" 

And again he chuckled! Then all the com- 
pany stood up, and gave three groans for these 
ugly men. 

THE MOSQUITO, 

without waiting for any to ask him to get up, 
flew right on the stump beside the Bloody- 
NouN, and began to whiz. 

The Frog looked surprised at this breach 
of etiquette. 

"Oh, ho! Froggy!" And he tapped Imn 
on the shoulder, with a familiar air. 

"I must be off; so I'll say a few words, and 
go. You see, I used to have a grand hunting- 
time with men, their wives, and babies. 

"Game was always plentiful, when some 



FliOG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. QQ 

mean fellow invented nets, and covered all 
the doors and windows, so I can scarcely get 
a bite! 

" So yon see, my friends, by a base invention 
of man, by his selfishness, afi'aid of a few drops 
of blood, — like a pig, he wants all to himself! 

At which all the pigs gave a sour, mad 
grunt ! 

"I have to sail the whole livelong night, to 
save myself from starving. 

"This is why I want to speak, and fly off 
to get my supper. If by chance I do get in, 
they take napkins and slap the walls an hour 
before retiring, in order to kill me, — the 
1 )loody-minded monsters ! 

"They won't allow me even a sip! They 
are so ugly, they chase me around continually. 

"I have to watch till they get asleep, and 
then I keep at the nets till I find a hole to 
enter. 

"I'll be even with them yet; for I often 



56 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

find some lazy boors asleep at their work, and 
then I dme like a king!" 

With a flippant dip of his saucy head, he 
whistled a tune, and soared, on a Hght breeze 
just coming o'er them, serenely away. 

Just then, the Feog, espying a 

WATEK-PILOT 

climbing on the stump, invited him amongst 
them, and called upon him to speak. 

"Oh, my friends, man hates me, and the 
dogs are death to me! 

At this the dogs gave a sullen growl. 

"I am despised by all, and why? Because 
I am so quiet, gliding, and noiseless. If any 
man is found base, traitorous, and mean, — lo! 
they call him a Si^ake! 

"Burr, Arnold, and Grouchy betrayed their 
country ! — they are Snakes ! 

"My friends, I never betrayed my country! 
Why, then, should man liken me to these renc- 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 57 

gades? Wliy, then, should such be honored 
with my name? 

"I am always true to my birth, my breeding, 
my nature, my instincts? I only want to live 
as God designed me to live, and I thinlv it a 
shame for man thus to slander me. 

" Why, even a l)ig brute of a man shudders 
at my soft, sleek, oily figure, and runs away, 
or else he must 2;et a stick to fio-ht me! 

"He is afraid of me; and yet my tongue is 
not half as bad as the tongue of a liar, the fangs 
of a slanderer, or the dart of a gossip!" 

He ceased; and they all said he was too 
much abused! — much slandered! — and that 
many men, — aye, even women, too, — were not 
half as good as the honest Snake, who only 
wanted a living, with the powers he possessed 
to gain it. 

The Fbog, looking around, saw 

A MONKEY 

grinning with open mouth, scrat(;hing his head 



58 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

with his feet, and his hand grabbing somethiag 
very much Hke a louse or flea! 

"Ah! my Dar^vinian manikin! — (see Fenni- 
more Cooper), — my wonderful httle man! — 
what have you to say against your o^\^l rela- 
tions? — tliis ugly man! You most truly re- 
semble him, — and I should not wonder you 
was his four hundred and fifty-fifth cousin! 
— on the De\al's side! 

"You carry, 'tis true, a long tail, instead of 
a walking-cane ; and are rather more hAu-y, 
perhaps ! 

"Your phrenological developments are not 
so large! Still, on a dark niglit, when you 
stood on your hind legs, well dressed a-la-mode, 
in the fashion of the elite, you might well pass 
for a York dandy, or a high-ljred exquisite ! " 

The MoNivEY grinned, turned a pirouette, 
scratched his head, pulled his tail, and leaped 
several times in the air, to show his agility. 
He is a gymnast, like man, you know, only a 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 59 

superior one. Then, with the most laughable 
and solemn gravity, as if he was a Demosthenes 
or a Cicero, a Butler or a Conkling, he began 
to stretch out his form to the uttermost, — so 
that he truly resembled some low orders of 
mankind. 

"My very good, kind friends: I beg leave 
to say that I have no desire to resemble man 
in the least! — and I tell you why! 

"I don't slander my fellow monkeys, as he 
does his kind; nor do I lie to gain possession 
of what don't belong to me! 

"I do not hoard up large possessions, as he 
does, while so many are starving! When we 
have plenty, we freely divide among all our 
tribe. We are open and generous, and don't 
get drunk, like man, and make beasts of our- 
selves ! 

"We don't kill our wives and children, as 
men do! We are not quacks or public rob- 
bers ! 



60 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

"When we have enoiii^h, we are satisfied; 
but man is always hungering when he has 
more than enough! 

"We don't hoard up, and deny ourselves 
the common necessaries of hfe, as man does! 

"We are not such fools as he is! We don't 
steal ten dollars, and become slaves in a jail 
for years, — deprived of fi-eedom, joy, and 
pleasure ! 

"We don't chew nasty weeds, and make 
ourselves disgusting to all nice folk ! No, in- 
deed! 

"So, Mr. Frog, I am highly indignant at 
that fool Darwin, for his learned folly, to try 
to make us related ! I despise the compliment ! 
I consider it highly derogatory to our tribes 
to resemble man in anything! 

"He is a poor tool, that man, any way you 
take him! He is always grumbling, — always 
dissatisfied ! 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. Q\ 

"Why, even Adam and Eve, once, they say, 
had a Paradise, and, silly creatures! they got 
kicked out of it! They have not got any 
sense! They are always squabbUng and fight- 
ing about their churches, the color of their 
skins, their ancestry and lineage! 

"They always set themselves up continually, 
one above the others, and worship jewehy, 
di'ess, fashion, and money! 

"See them continually changing their gar- 
ments, and always looking at themselves in 
glasses ! 

"I am sick of their conceits! — their mum- 
meries! — their folhes! 

" I consider it a shame for you, Mr, Fkog, in 
any way or manner, to allow yourself to see 
any resemblance between my honest, manly, 
noble tribes, and this upstart, Man, — who 
claims descent after us! — so Darwin says, and 
he ought to know!" 



62 FROG JUBILEE OF xiNIMALS. 

All the companj begged the Feog to make 
an apology for tliis oversight, and soothe the 
wounded pride of the Monkey, by solemnly 
declaring, at once and for all, that the monkey- 
tribe considered itself always insulted by this 
supposed resemblance ! 

The polite Fkog said, — 

"I see I have been misinformed; and I 
assure you, I plainly see your infinite supe- 
riority to that cowardly animal, Man, — who 
has dared, througli the great Darwin, to as- 
sume this relationship, on his own respon- 
sibility, 

" I further will take a minute of this meeting, 
by cm" secretary, Mr. Fly, who will supply 
his oyn\ ink, and forward the same to Mr. 
Darwin, who then will manfully, no doubt, 
give his science a farther and a deeper study; 
and do you, oh Monkey, strict justice in the 
futm'e ! Do you all agree to this ? " 

"Ay! ay!" all responded. 



FROO JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 03 

Then the hog 

began to gnint, — lie was getting hungry! The 
Frog poHtely saw his condition, and allowed 
him to speak. 

He got up; and, giving another grunt, in 
great self-satisfaction, began: — 

"I am well fed, — that is, in amount, — but 
the silly farmer throws all the refuse to me, 
and keeps this refuse in a dirty swill-barrel, 
which is never cleaned. So all the food I get 
is sour and diseased! 

"It is often kept in the sun, which makes 
it smell ! Then he expects me to be fit to eat ! 
He gives me more than I ought to eat, till I 
get so fat, if I once get down I can't get up 
again ! 

"So he ruins my liver and my digestion; 
and I get awfuUy scabby and scrofulous, and 
die. I often get queer little worms in me, and 
poison the people. 



64 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

"Who is to blame? Not I! I don't wonder 
the Jews are more sensible, wise, and good. 

"They leave me alone; but other men 
make me a mass of disease, by allowing me 
to wallow contmually in my own mire; and 
then they think me so sweet, they kill and 
eat me! 

"But I will repay liim by gi\"ing him various 
diseases from my body. 

And he gave another grimt. 

"It is like the water the great city drinks, 
— full of filth in the refuse of all the country's 
waste! The great city laughs at the country, 
and gets its old cast-away rubbish in its veins 
and blood! 

"Oh, most wise city! Oh, great people! 
They spend milHons on their backs, in their 
houses, in their jewels, and allow their stomachs 
to be diseased, and their veins poisoned ! What 
think you, animals? Is this man so much, 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. QQ 

after all? Is he not a blind, silly fool? Has 
lie any sense and judgment?" 

"No! no!" said they all, at once. 

Then a fat 

HEN 

cackling, our %vide-awake Frog bid her go on. 
She said: — 

"You see, all of you, how nice, sleek, and 
fat I am. 

And she ruffled her feathers bravely. 

""We do! we do!" they echoed. 

"Well, you think I have a very nice time 
of it, no doubt. 

"Man feeds me to the full, till I am in a 
fine state of emhonpoint. Is it for our own 
good? Oh, no! Is it generosity? Oh, no! 
Is it a desire to make us happy ? Oh, no ! 

"What then? To feed his huge belly,— 
which, like a leech, always cries for more ! He 
stuffs me almost to bursting, in order to stuff 
himself ! 



66 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

"He takes away my childi'en before my 
very eyes, and makes roasts of them! 

"The wretch!" they all cried. 

"And, as bad as the Spanish Inquisition, 
turns me on a spit before a hell-fire, and 
browns me like a nigger!" 

They all sighed but the Fox, who was just 
about to return home. He gave a very pro- 
longed sigh, and had half a mind to make a 
grab for her, but the country was too open. 

Then the big ])lack 

BEETLE 

began a di-owsy hum; and the gentlemanly 
Frog, catching the dulcet notes, said: — 

"Why, my fi-iend, are you sleepy?" 

"Yah! vah!" he muttered. 

"Give us your experience," said Mr. Fkog. 

"I am tabooed by man; for evervwhere he 
sees me, he puts his foot on me. If I get 
into his garden and spade it up for him, so 
that his vegetables may grow — half the time 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 67 

being too lazy to do it for himself — why, he 
scratches me out of the gromid, and hits me 
with his spade." 

"The horrid brute!" they all groaned. 

A SHEEP 

just then gave a great "Baah!" like a big 
baby crying, and the Frog nodded to him to 
proceed. 

"My very good friends: I feel rather sheepish 
in this large company; especially as I have to 
follow so many distinguished strangers. Be 
patient for a few moments, till I tell my 
story. 

" I have, you must know, a soft woolen cloak, 
which God gave me, to keep me warm. Well, 
envious man, thinking he knows more than 
God, meanly puts on his own back my robes; 
and then struts so vainly with it, like a human 
peacock ! " 

Then he gave a great "Baa!" They all 
joined in, and gave a great "Baa!" It was a 



68 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

musical treat far superior to either Rulienstein 
or Bulow, for it was more natural. It was 
not learned or studied; so there was a genuine 
magnetism about it far superior to an}' study. 
Then a 

CAT-BIRD, 

like a flying negro, began to call like a Cat. 
At fii'st the Fko& was nonplussed, and was just 
about to cry "Pussy! Pussy!" when the bird 
sailed over his head, and gave a gentle fanning 
with his wings. 

The Frog felt this soft flutter in the air, 
and at once saw his mistake. 

"Proceed, my young friend. We are all de- 
lighted to listen to your dulcet voice, — a feath- 
ered Nilsson! — a flying Lind! — a full-fledged 
Grisi!" 

He then gave them a grand concerto ui A 
minor, a few trills, a few soft cadences, with a 
prolonged dying wave of melody, and thus ad- 
dressed them: — 



FBOG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 69 

"I am very useful to man, in various ways; 
but ugly boys continually point at me with 
their long, murderous guns. They steal our 
eggs; and keep great, horrid cats, to devour 
our little ones." 

The Cats here set up a united " Meow ! " and 
looked as if they would rush upon him. 

" Wliat wicked boys ! " said they all. 

Just then, a smooth, sleek, corn-fed 

RAT 

came tramping through the grass. 

"Better late than never!" he ffailv said; and 
bowed his head, gave a keen sharp glance 
around, and wliisked his tail. 

I tell you all the cats' mouths watered to 
have a bite of him! They kept up a soft 
meowing among themselves, as if the meetmg 
was a stay upon then* appetites. 

"Oh, Mr. Rat," said our polite Frog, bow- 
ing his stately head ; " we welcome you to 



70 FROO JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

this grand multitude. How is your healtli, and 
how are all the little Mice?" 

"Oh, I left them nibbling in my lady's bu- 
reau; and I am in prime condition." 

"Indeed, you have the free swmg of the 
house; and you are thus a favored mortal." 

"I don't know about that, Mr. Fkog. I tell 
you, my provision business don't always pay; 
and 'tis often hard and dangerous work to ac- 
cumulate stock enough for my grocery-store. 

"You see, some evil men have invented so 
many curious traps, that puzzle us all. They 
are so very ingenious, so invitmg, often so 
carefully concealed, or appear so innocent and 
harmless, that, in spite of our well-known cau- 
tion, our sharp glances, our wide-awake senses, 
we are woefully humbugged! 

"My brother last night lost his tail! My 
cousin the other day left his leg in a trap of 
steel springs! And only a few weeks ago my 
old father, who was too slow and half blind, 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 71 

got his neck broken in one of them, and we 
found him dead! 

"Then they employ so many monstrous 
Cats 

The Cats looked at him, black as a thunder- 
cloud, and spotted him, mentally determined 
to pounce upon him when the meeting was 
over. 

" who chase us up and down ; and, like sneaks, 
they watch for us, for hours, — sometimes stay 
near our holes almost a day, like Leeches or 
Snails! 

At these remarks, the Cats set up such a 
terrible caterwauling, and became so noisy, that 
all the animals shouted — 

"Put them out! Put them out!" 

This brought them to their senses. 

"So you see, the freedom of the house and 
barn is full of danger. I have always to be 
on my guard, till I have become full of sus- 
picion." 



\ 



72 FROQ JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

They all sympathized with the Rat very 
much, and tliought his life a hard one. 

A FLY 

kept buzzing about the old Fkog's head, as if 
impatient. 

"Well, Mr. Fly, I see yom- little eye! So 
give us your life, before you die ! " 

"Oh, brutal man delights to destroy me! — 
his best scavenger, to eat up all impm-ities! 
Some mean grocer — no doubt to adulterate 
his dried currants! — invented a kind of paste 
spread on coarse paper, to catch me. 

"I unconsciously alight on this, and stick 
fast; and there I linger, in great agony, till 1 
die of hunger, and grief, and poison. 

"Alas! alas!" they all cried. 

"Then, again, they put some sweet water in 
a tumbler, and place a piece of ])read over this, 
with a hole in it. I fall through, and get 
drowTied. Are not these dirty tricks?" 

" Oh, yes ! " they aU murmured. 



FROQ JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 73 

Just then a flea 

a saucy Flea, out of fun pinched the Fkog's 
ear. 

He jumped up, as if about to dance the 
polka, when the Flea leaped before him. 

"Oh, ho! my hop-of-my-thumb ! Are you 
there?" 

"No!" said the Flea; "I'm here, there, all 
over, and no where!" 

"Indeed, you are a real jack-o'-lantern! — a 
true will-o'-the-wisp! What sorrows have 
you?" 

" "Well, not many ; but I get entangled in the 
hair, sometimes; and men, and animals, and 
birds, hunt me up, and crush me. 

"After I have feathered my nest with so 
much pains, it is awful to lose one's life 
for it. 

"Once a wild Italian stole a dozen of my 
relations, and bribed them, by letting them 
suck the blood of his arm; and so kept them 



74 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

as captives, put tiny mites of silver collars 
around their necks, made them draw a train of 
cars along a track, pull up a bucket from a 
well, dance freely, and many other curious 
tricks. (True !) 

"Well," they all cried, "you are generally 
lucky, and well able to take care of yourself." 

He laughed, and struck a Horse on the nose, 
tumbled head over heels in a Monkey's ear, 
let fly a salute on a Sheep's back, and then 
danced on the breeze. 

Then the Feog heard a soft low, hke a dying 
moan, upon his ear; and then a poor rack-o'- 
bones of an old dilapidated 

cow 
came shaml)lmg up, a sight of pity to all. She 
was so weak she could hardly stand. Her tail 
was rotted off, one of her horns was gone, 
and great scabs stood all around her body. 

A kind of rheum oozed out of her eyes, and 
she looked the picture of patient despair. 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 75 

As the animals gazed at her, a terrible shud- 
der shivered them with horror; and some even 
veiled then* faces at the sight, while one pity- 
ingly murmured, — 

"Can such things be?" 

"Ah, Mr. Fkog, let me tell you my life, so 
that the world can sympathize with my sorrows. 
You don't know how I am abused! — how mis- 
erably fed! — how kicked aroimd! — standing 
weeks in filtli! — and .fed on hot, burning, nau- 
seating swill! 

"But I repay! Thousands of infants die 
yearly fi'om my diseased milk! A howling 
wail goes over the land from the slaughter of 
the innocents! 

" Even when I am a mass of diseased rotten- 
ness they milk me ! And lo ! the great cities — 
so dainty, so aristocratic, so great-minded, — 
whose refined noses turn up at the perfumes 
of poverty, yet sup in theii morning coffee, 
their punches at noon, and their tea at eve, 



76 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

this watery slime, — little knowing, and appar- 
ently careless, they are planting seeds of dis- 
ease that will take thousands of dollars to erad- 
icate in the future! 

" Oh, swill ! great is thy throne ! Oh, wealth ! 
great is thy fraud! 

"Oh, Mr. Fkog, what think you of the law 
that is powerless to stop this diseased nui- 
sance ? 

"Wliat think you of the people Avho supinely 
permit this outrage? 

"Good God! What are legislators for, when 
corruption fattens before theu- very eyes, and 
lo! they are blind and senseless!" 

That poor old cow was a bitter satire on 
mankind! — a melancholy proof of the injustice, 
the stupidity, and the laziness of man! 

All the animals gave a very prolonged groan, 
and turned up their noses in supreme disdain 
at man's folly and greed. 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 77 

One indignant animal appealed to God, and 
besought Him to rain plagues on mankind, — 
make them a mass of disease! Let them suffer 
the tortm-es this poor Cow undergoes, till sense 
returns, and the filth of the stables is done 
away with forever! 

The Frog suddenly felt a bite on his topknot, 
and softly put up a paw to catch the rascal, 

" Oh, ho ! my fine fellow ! Have I got you ? 
Why, you saucy 

louse! 
And before all the animals he showed up the 
thief. 

" What have you to say for yourself ? Heigh 
lio! To think of such a visitor! Such a gay 
intruder! Such an exquisite!" 

" Oh, Mr. Frog, I was so himgiy at this pro- 
tracted meeting, that I thought it was a Meth- 
odist love-feast, and so I thought I'd take a 
bite! 



78 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

"You are so plump, full-fed, Mr. Frog, that 
you'll not mind it much, and 'tis truly a god- 
send for me!" 

The kind, generous Frog, freely forgave 
him, and told him to freely expose his sor- 
rows. 

" I am only a Mite, hut the world stares at 
me when I'm seen, as if I were a Monster! 
They make a great fuss always at my pres- 
ence! 

"Why, even the poets make fun of me; and 
bonny Burns addresses me as a Louse on a 
fine lady's bonnet! 

"But you all know I generally keep my bed. 
In truth, I am almost always bed-ridden. Yet 
aAA^il cruel man scalds me to death, pours boil- 
ing water into the holes, and burns me out. 

" I do a little gardening on my own account 
in his scalp, and he makes a great pow-wow 
over it, and buys horrid rakes (combs) to scratch 
me out. 



FROO JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 79 

"Yet I love mankind! I am only social 
and friendly! 

"I truly love this man, and sweetly press 
him with my soft lip! 'Tis my ardor that 
makes me press him so hotly! — my energy of 
passion! — my earnest embrace! 

"Man can not sympathize with this fi*ee-love; 
but Claflin and Woodhull can, and all the 
rest of the masculine feminines!" 

THE CAT 

softly meowing, om- noble Frog signed to her 
to speak. 

" Oh, friends ! " she said, in her gentlest, most 
pmTing tone, that fell upon the ear like down 
upon the air. 

"I am quiet if they do not vex me, — if they 
don't rub the fur the wrong way; but if I take 
a frolic at night and have a grand pow-wow, 
you ought to see the sticks and brickbats 
a-flying! — old bottles, too! — all kinds of odds 
and ends! 



80 FROO JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

"Can't I have a little fim, as well as man? 
Oh, no! They can make the night hideous 
with their sprees, — make fools of themselves 
all night long, — and this is all right! 

"Turn about is fair play! Suppose we 
peppered him as he does us, how would he 
like it?" 

All the animals said there was no fair play 
with man. 

An old, battered, half blind, half lame, half 
dead, thin, angular, bony, worn-out 

HORSE 

gave a ghost of a neigh, which the gallant 
Frog hearing faintly, he directed his sympa- 
thetic glance that way, and was just about to 
invite him to speak, when the Horse had a 
terrible fit of wheezing and coughing. At last 
he stopped, and said: — 

"Good friends: You see me as I am, — my 
looks alone tell the tale ! I was misused, over- 
burdened, driven beyond my speed, half fed, 



FBOQ JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 81 

half littered, half sheltered, half groomed, get- 
ting more knocks than kindness; and so, before 
my time, I look like this old battered hulk you 
see before you. 

"'Tis time to stop brutality, and leara man 
mercy, gentleness, and forbearance, — time to 
have found a true fi-iend in Bergh ! — a fearless 
champion! — a brave and a humane man! — 
who nobly does his duty without fear or favor ! " 

The Horse had just spoken, when he fell 
over dead. 

It dampened the spirits of the assembly, 
this sudden death, and all felt very sorry over 
this much-abused and fallen champion of all 
work. 

All the animals with their feet and paws 
dug a wide trench near a shady tree, and 
buried him, — while many a moan filled the 
solemn chambers of the night air. 

Then a sudden, terrible roar, was heard, 
which made 'all the animals tremble ; and they 



82 FROO JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

were about to flee away in terror, when a 
majestic 

LION 

leaped into their presence with another terrific 
roar that fairly shook the air, and seemed like 
muttering thunder. 

He wildly shook his shaggy mane, gave three 
or four fi-antic leaps, lashed his tail fiercely, and 
seemed about to madden himself into a won- 
derful indignation. 

How grand he looked! His yellow eye 
shone like a fiery sun ! He held his head high 
in air, drew apart his monstrous jaws, while 
his teeth gleamed like ivory swords! 

Then his words shot forth like the deep 
moan of the sea, or the wild breakers that 
dash against a rock-bound coast. Every tone 
fell like the command fi'om a throne. 

"I am monarch of the jungles! Who dares 
dispute my sway? 

And he looked around haughtilv. 



FROO JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 83 

"Man, in all his greatness, his genius, and 
liis power, shrinks abashed in my presence! 

" Amid the free hills, he cowers like a slave 
before me! My roar sounds to his coward 
soul Uke doom! 

"Dare he meet me alone? Dare he crouch 
alone before my cave? 

" Alas ! I shame to tell it ! I am no longer 
monarch ! Oh, fell disgrace ! Oh, woeful day ! 
My scepter has departed! 

"A Frenchman — what a wild race! — alone 
lias dared to rule me! — to track me! — to kill 
me! One alone of the mighty millions that 
tread the earth — Glraud — is now the true 
hero, and monarch of the jungles! 

"His true nerve, fixed eye, and sure aim, 
make him the lion king! 

"All hail to the only man who dared, alone, 
to track and kill me! — who dared to beard 
the hon even in his very den!" 

The animals, in solemn acclaim, cried, "All 



84 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

hail!" Even they, though against themselv^es, 
admired indomitable courage! 

" How do the rest kill me ? Bah ! They dig 
deep holes; cover them with brush, sods, and 
earth, and take me in a miserable trap, in a 
sneaking manner. 

"Or a himdred against one, they surromid 
me with spears, and kill me! Is this fair?" 

"No! no!" they all cried. 

"But I repay them. At night, I devour 
their flocks! I keep them in perpetual fear!" 

"Serves them right!" they all cried. 

Then the fkog 

arose, and gave his experience. 

"We are common game for all youngsters! 
No sooner do we pop up our heads, tlian out 
goes a stick, or stone, or shot! We are tor- 
mented by these human imps called cliildren! 
And we have all found by bitter experience 
that man is cruel, relentless, thoughtless, and 
selfish ! 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 85 

serpents, and, on the sly, attacking man; but, 
like warrior chieftains, fiercely and openly 
striking its rattle-drums, — erect, king-like, 
undaunted ! 

The polite Frog for a moment shuddered 
at the fearful rattle; but recognizing his lordly 
person, begged the royal snake to proceed. 

The Rattlesnake thus began: — 

"Friends: we disdain, on the sly, like other 
snakes, to creep and crawl as if afraid of 
man ! " 

At these remarks, so derogatory to the other 
tribes of serpents, they raised their crested 
heads, and began to hiss furiously, whereupon 
the parliamentary Frog, astonished at this 
check on free speech, stamped his claw for 
silence, and looked around indignantly, lilce 
another Demosthenes. 

"Friends," again resumed the stately Rattle- 
snake, "why does man fear me so? I am an 
open foe ! My name strikes abject terror into 



86 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

every human heart; but I do not pounce upon 
them like the crafty tiger or the watchful lion. 
No ! Before all the world I stand, and shake 
my war clarions. They have had the warning! 
Never again let man call our tribes sneaking, 
crawhng, cowardly, treacherous! We advance 
to battle as boldly as did the old sea-kings of 
the north, as ready to take as to give, high- 
mettled and free. 

"Coward man at our name slinks away in 
fear, and he is the snake! Instead of giving 
us open battle, he crawls and crouches in hid- 
ing, and pounces upon us suddenly, more like 
a sinuous reptile than a bold, fearless, upright 
man! We offer an open challenge for man 
either to accept or to retire. He offers a sly 
combat, trembling and shrinlving with fear! 
Friends, we are a noble foo, always to the 
front, always ready for the fra3^ We sound 
our own battle-drums, as our battalions march 
to the fight; and we never yield till conquered. 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 87 

while man often slinks away when the battle 
is half fought, paralyzed with fear. And how 
does he fight ? Why, with dirty sticks and 
stones, hurled at a distance, as if afraid of his 
precious body, giving wounds, but too fearful 
of receiving them. 

"Look at his great height and bulk! Wlio 
would believe he would fear such slight, del- 
icate figures as we are? That we, scarcely a 
twentieth of his size, would make him run! 
Ay, run as if the devil was after him! and 
make Inm sink on the ground fainting, like 
an infant! A few rattles shakes his coward 
heart ; and all his pride, his dignity, his strength, 
is cowed by a little serpent ! What think you, 
my friends, is man so godUke, after all? To 
skulk fi'om us in alarm and fear! No, in- 
deed! Strike, my brethren, your warlike rat- 
tles, and let this puny man hear his coward 
heart knock against his shaking sides at their 
warlike notes! No drum is equal to its battle 



88 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

sound! Who would think man was so long- 
legged, and made such strides?" 

The animals all laughed heartily at this 
picture, and a great "Ha! ha! ha!" went 
forth at man's dread and weakness! They 
laughed tiU their sides ached, till exhausted, 
and old night shook in unison with them. 

THE EAGLE. 

Suddenly all the animals heard a rustling 
through the air. On looking up, they beheld 
a magnificent, immense-sized eagle, on his pin- 
ions, bearing down upon them. As he sailed 
majestically along, as though the very monarch 
of the air, you could see in his lordly bearing, 
his fearless mien, and his searcliing, powerful 
gaze, that he was the royal bird of Jove, free 
as the buoyant air, owning no mastery but 
God himself. 

" Well, my friend," said the polite Fkog, " tell 
us your sorrows." 

"Friends: it is not often man has a chance 



FEOO JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 89 

either to catcli or shoot us, as our eyrie is 
amid "the towering hills, or the lofty-pinnacled 
cliffs. "Wliere liberty breathes, amid the al- 
most inaccessible rocks, is our free mountain 
home. Our sweep is above his pvmy efforts, 
and we disdain in our sublime flights to notice 
him or his skill; yet still man, with his cun- 
ning, sometimes entraps us; and in his petty 
wire cages clips our free wings' flight. There, 
on little wooden perches, we sit down demure 
and solemn in our narrow home, a melancholy 
object of wonder. It is only in the boundless 
air that we appear in our royal livery. Then, 
with wide-spreading pinions, we are a glory 
and a dehght; and like a star of heaven we 
stud the blue firmament like a winged god. 
Freedom's self rushes with our wide-extended 
wings, and gazes out of our bold piercing eyes. 
Then our shrieks resound on the blasts, and 
we pierce high heaven in our vast, extended, 
upward flights. Behold our thunderbolt swoops 



90 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

as we dive to earth like an avalanche of doom, 
and spitting our prey as if with an arrow of 
light!" 

He had scarcely spoken, when np again he 
spread his airy flight, gave his clarion, warhke, 
piercing shriek, and they beheld him soaring 
like a wide-spreading sail, gloriously beautiful 
and poetically sublime. 

THE ELEPHANT. 

Hark to that lumbering tread! while the 
shrill, trumpet-like notes from his huge probos- 
cis pierced the still, solemn air, like a battle-fife, 
giving notice of his approach. He advanced 
with slow yet majestic pace, shaking the solid 
earth by his heavy tread; and before their 
wondering eyes stood the mighty elephant, the 
modern mastodon, his sides gored with many 
a wound, his ivory tusk broken off, and every 
appearance of a great struggle in his manner, 
walk, and general bearing. He could scarcely 
breathe; but, with heroic effort, he di*agged his 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 91 

heavy body along, and stood panting before 
the assembled tribes. He thus began: — 

"Friends, of the great animal and insect 
race! I have had a very narrow escape for 
my life! I am just out of the toils; all the 
rest of my brethren are captives, base slaves to 
lordly man ! But, thank God, I still am free ! " 

To this all the assembled tribes shouted an 
"All hail!" 

"Only by herculean efforts did I break 
through all checks, and gain my freedom. 
Life is gettmg to be almost unbearable; for 
the way we are hunted and trapped for a little 
ivory leaves us but little peace in our native 
domains. Soon, very soon, we will become 
extinct, like our brother mastodon of old, whose 
mighty remains now only exist. Our great 
size, our immense strength, and our well-known 
sagacity and wide-awake intelHgence, are nought 
against the superior cunning and art of man. 
His godlike intellect subdues our terrible fero- 



92 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

city and mighty power, till we become as docile 
and as harmless as little children, and are but 
straws in liis hands; for he makes us beasts 
of bm-den, keeps us to hunt tigers for hira, 
uses us as decoys to tame our wilder brothers, 
makes us add to his pomp and royal proces- 
sions, conveys us around different countries to 
be a show and wonder to gaping crowds, 
learns us curious tricks for his money profit, 
and even in war hurls us against tlie enemy, 
while we are a very conspicuous mark for a 
thousand spears. With all our strength we 
are as little children in his hands, for he or- 
ders and we must obey! That little head of 
his, filled with tlie skill, knowledge, science, 
and art of a little god upon earth, conquers 
all; and we, who could sweep him out of ex- 
istence witli a slight blow of our ivory tusk, 
must submit to his puny body, be slaves to his 
lordly will, and remain a quiet captive forever. 
" Friends, let me tell my story to your sym- 



. FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 93 

pathetic ears, and then you will not envy my 
superior size, intelligence, and strength. We 
are as easily taken captive as the poor little 
mouse in the trap, or the foolish flies in the 
wire cages now invented to destroy them. 
Man now laughs at our immensity ! He knows 
well enough his craft can offset it, and make 
him superior! What a satire, friends, is mere 
brute strength, without the keen, active, alert, 
thinking brain, to du-ect it! I own it, I feel 
cowed before man's superior intelligence; and 
our huge bulk is no more than a mere kitten 
to his superior skill ! They make an inclosm'e 
of huge upright logs, strong enough and close 
enough to resist our mad fury when caught, 
and leave only one opening to drive us in. 
Near this opening fallen trees are so placed 
as to quickly fill up the gap, thus hedging us 
all around. The natives gather in great num- 
bers, and form a ^vide circuit, gradually drive 
us en masse into this inclosure. I entered it. 



94 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

but sliied at the last moment to the opening 
again, and broke my tusk in the fall against a 
huge log in my path, while all the hunters, 
furious at my escape, rained a forest of spears 
against me. Fear lent me wings, and, spite of 
all, I escaped. 

"My brothers are subdued by hunters on 
tame elephants, who ride them down, badger 
them, and tie their hind legs to the logs, and 
so handle and whip them till they are wilhng 
slaves to his power!" 

All the animals were very sad to see the 
fallen plight of this mighty beast, — to see his 
body bleeding from so many wounds, to see 
the crowning glory of his grand old head — 
his ivory glory — broken; that tusk ennobled 
by many a victory over the savage, remorseless 
tiger, — that shield for defence, — forever de- 
stroyed. They all offered up a solemn prayer 
for his safe return to his native forests, and 
a speedy recovery from his many wounds. 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 95 

THE BUFFALO. 

Hark to that deep, grumbling, threatening 
roar! All the animal tribes suddenly started 
at the fearful sound, — when, with eyes all 
aflame, shaggy head tossed defiantly, upleaps 
into then* very midst a gigantic bull buffalo, 
a gory stream raining down his sides, while a 
feathered arrow stood out fi'om his shaggy 
hide. He was pufiing and blowing mth his 
frantic leapings to be in time. 

"Well," said our polite Fbog, "how does 
the king of the prairies wide? How does the 
wild glory of the desert plains?" 

Another smothered roar, that sounded like 
distant rumbling thunder, while liis eyes grew 
fiercer in their wrath, as he shook his huge 
bulk m proud disdain as he gave them a history 
of his wrongs. 

"Look at me, almost pinned to earth by an 
Indian's barbed arrow! — my life-blood flomng 
tlu-ough man's brutality! We expect the wild 



96 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

Indian to use us to supply his wants, for we 
are his natural food upon the plains; but, far 
away, from the distant cities they come in 
throngs to hunt us, often in mere wantonness, 
or to boast of their wondrous shooting skill. 
Do they not have their towns, villages, and 
cities? Do they not have their oxen, pigs, 
and poultry? Can not they leave the lone 
prairies for us to roam in? — the wild home 
given us by the good God? No! Man is 
never satisfied till he destroys aU he can lay 
his savage hands upon! 

" Alas ! after my free body is slain, he dese- 
crates the carcass, strips off our shaggy hide 
to minister to his luxury and comfort; and 
our fell destroyers can keep it as a memento 
of our fallen pride, and a trophy of his vic- 
tory! When we are dust, he can revel in 
warmth in our noble covering! 

"In the rivalries of hunting parties, we are 
destroyed by thousands, or are driven head- 



FROQ JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 97 

long over rocky precipices in our terrible sud- 
den flight, to perish mangled amid torture and 
groans, — often trampling each other to death 
in our sudden hurry to escape; and soon we 
wiU disappear like the great mastodon of old, 
whose remains man so often digs up in his 
scientific researches. 

"We have no chance of escape, since the 
terrible, unerring, deadly, far-sighted, repeating 
rifle, strikes us from afar, to our ruin and 
death; and we, free, wild roamers of the desert, 
will fast disappear beneath their murderous 
shots! Awe and lamentation goes forth fi-om 
all my tribes! 

" Animals, is it not hard that soon their cities 
will cover those free, wild, desert plains, sacred 
to our glorious tread? That the noise of the 
hammer and forge will resound where our free 
bellowings shook the affrighted air, and rever- 
berated through the hills and forests and along 
the plains? That where we were monarchs. 



98 FROO JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 

their poor drudges of horses, asses, mules, and 
oxen will tread, — those slaves of man defiling 
the earth where we free dwellers once trod? 

"Alas! soon only in tradition will our glo- 
rious herds live! — those herds that once as- 
sembled in droves of tens of thousands, shaking 
the lordly earth with our mighty tread!" 

All the anunals pitied his sad fate, and a 
wail went forth in the solemn chambers of the 
night an- for the future fate of the pride and 
glory of the great American prairies. 

Then 

THE FROG 

arose, and gave his experience. 

"We are common game for all youngsters! 
No sooner do we pop up our heads, than out 
goes a stick, or stone, or shot! We are tor- 
mented by these human imps called children! 
And we have all found by bitter experience 
that man is cruel, relentless, thoughtless, and 
selfish ! 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 99 

"So let us band together, and devise ways 
and means to better protect ourselves." 

So Mr. Fly took down the minutes of the 
meeting, and it was handed throughout the 
earth, that all the animal tribes might read it. 

Then they aU sat down to a great feast that 
had been prepared for them, after which they 
had many dancings, leapings, flyings, tumblings, 
singings, and whisthngs. 

After all then* natural wants were satisfied, 
the poor old Cow begged the company to listen 
to a few of her remarks. 

The polite Fbog assented. 

The Cow then said: — 

"Noble f ellow-creatm'es : A man bold, per- 
sistent, honest, and fearless, has arisen to 
avenge om- \vTongs, and to tame this needless 
brutality in man, to check liis ruthless excesses, 
and restrain him to proper decency and mercy. 
As the champion of the animal race, he deserves 
our best wishes, our highest regard, our purest 



100 FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMAL8. 

homage. And before this meeting breaks up, 
let us all arise and give one sublime, glorious 
'AU hail!' to Bergh." 

They arose, in great solemnity, and awoke 
the slmnbering echoes of the night ^^^th an 
"All hail! all hail!" till the woods around 
re-echoed "All hail! all hail!" 

The MocKLNG-BiRD, who was the poet of the 
animal tribes, begged then* indulgence while 
he recited this piece of poetry, his own com- 
position. 

The polite Frog assented. 

Animals have a right to live, 

Eat, drink, and sleep, in peace. 

A title to such joys the Creator gives. 

Till death gives them release. 

"We ask only mercy of man, — 

To treat us with humanity. 

Few pleasures are our span; 

Let us enjoy them without cruelty. 



FROG JUBILEE OF ANIMALS. 101 

Just as day was beginning to dawn, the party 
broke up, and all was still again. 

They then departed each to his home. 

So you see, my children, animals, birds, 
insects, and fishes, have as many trials and sor- 
rows as man. 



,f<^ «!., 




^'^^ci^^-^^i^^S?^ 



102 



THE FEAST OF FLO WEHS. 




THE 



FEAST OF FLOWERS. 




old man sat by the Christmas fire, 
surrounded by his children and grand- 
children, and amused them by telling 
a story, called the Feast of Flowers. 

You must imagine the Flowers to have 
tongiies to talk with, and eyes to see, and 
minds to think and compare. 

You must think they are human Flowers, 
for the time. This is not so, you know; but 
we put eyes and tongues into the Flowers, 
to make them amusing and instructive. 

On a bright Jmie day, there was to be a 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 103 

Feast of Flowers, and a prize w^as to be 
given to the most beantifnl. 

So all the Flowers in the world were there, 
fresh with the morning dews, all blooming and 
expanded, gay and brilliant in the sunbeams. 

They sat beneath a wide-spreading oak, near 
a lovely stream, so that they might take a cool- 
ing sip now and then, to refresh their beauty 
and revive their di'ooping spirits. 

One of the Fairies was to be judge. They 
piled soft mosses together, and all the Flowers 
reclined upon them. 

The majestic 

PEONY 

first arose, with an au* of regal grandeur and 
an imposing bearing, large and full-blown, — a 
real giantess among the blossoms. 

" Am I not gorgeous ? Behold my size, my 
splendor, my ample rotundity ! " 

"Bah!" said little Mignonette, under her 
breath J "a great overgrown lubber!" 



104 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

Next the 

SUNFLOWER 

arose, and thus addressed them: — 

"Behold my lofty stem! Am I not regal, 
like a golden crown? See how I am always 
turned to the sun's eye, as I fondly show my 
face to him, his golden kisses floating like a 
wreath upon my forehead. 

" Can you match me in state and dignity, as 
I o'ertop all the Flowers?" 

"Yes! a big beanpole," said httle Jump-up- 

JOHNNY. 

"A good handle for a broomstick!" said 
little Creeping-Charley. 

" Ah ! " said little Violet, " I am out of place 
amongst so many grand nabobs! I wish I 
had stayed at home." 

The little 

JUMP-UP- JOHNNY 

arose, and, with a merry twinkle of his eye, 
said : — 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 105 

" Ah ! can you match my vigor, parti-colored 
elegance, and late bloom? You see me peep 
forth even in the lap of winter, when the big 
Peony consumptive is strewn upon the gale. 
When these big boasters have all decayed, I 
am seen on many a winter's morn as young as 
ever. You know rare gems are always small 
in size ! If I am only a wee thing, I am full 
of hardy life. 

" Come, good Fairy, I want the prize ! " 

All the Flowers laughed at his pertness, 
and clapped their hands in sport. In great 
good humor he sat down, almost out of sight, 
amid those huge mosses. 

Then a great 

CACTUS 

got up, clumsy and slow, "vvith pompous dig- 
nity, and said, — 

"Behold my beauty and glory!" 
"Oh, yes! a glory of green prickles!" said 
Miss Sweet Alyssium. 



106 TEE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

"All body and no head!" said little Daisy. 

Mortified at these half-heard interruptions, 
he sat down, and wrapped himself in his dig- 
nity. 

While they were thus discussing, a swarm 
of Bees kept buzzing around, and with great 
difficulty the Fairy kept them off with lier 
wand; but a saucy Bee dodged her staff, lit 
upon a plmnp Rose, and stung her to the 
quick. 

She screamed, in her agony, — 

" Oh, you ugly Bee ! " 

All the Flowers gathered around her, and, 
with gentle pity, soothed her wounded feelings. 

The air was so sweet with so many perfumes, 
that swarms of Flies and Insects kept floating 
around^ all eager to get a sip. 

Once they all rushed in pell-mell; but the 
Fairy, with her wand, made a terrible breeze, 
and drove them off. 

The big Peony could not stand the shock, 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 107 

and its petals were strewn upon the wind, and 
all the Flies had a feast that day. 

After this disturbance was all over, a pale, 
stately 

LILY 

uprose, dainty white, and exquisitely perfumed, 
— a very dandy flower, — so tall and elegant, 
so nice and neat, the ton-ton in grace, refine- 
ment, and delicacy. She was the very elite of 
flowers, and the pride of the aristocracy. 

She said little, but looked around as if her 
presence alone was worth the prize. A hum 
of admiration greeted her. Pleased at this 
quiet homage, she gracefully sat down again. 

A gaudy 

TULIP 

arose, and was just about to speak, when a tiny 
Sekpent crawled out of its petals. What a 
scampering there was of Flowers! 

The Fairy hit him with her wand, and killed 
him. 



108 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

"Oh!" said Daisy, "what a precious love 
you keep within your bosom! What a heauty 
for a companion!" 

And they all laughed. 

Miss Tulip pouted in disdain; and, confused, 
sat down. 

Then little 

BUTTKBCUP 

jumped up, and said: — 

"Give me the prize! Am I not a golden 
cro\\Ti? Are not crowns right royal? Then 
make me queen!" 

"And make me king!" said little 

DANDELION. 

"Am I not a dandy lion? — and therefore 
ought to be ^*m^(not of beasts, but) of ^oi^er*." 
All were merry with these conceits. 
The wax-hke 

CAMELIA 

next appeared, — a drawing-room exquisite, — 
and, with languid speech, said: — 



THE FEAST OF FLO WEUS. 109 

"What need of boasting? You can see for 
yourself my charms! How I am prized, and 
Bought for in the realms of fashion!" 

"Fashion be hanged!" said plain Apple- 
Blossom. 

"For not patronizing you, I suppose. Miss 
Saucebox!" retorted Miss Camelia. 

Then the 

ORANGE-BLOSSOM 

spoke in her own behalf: — 

"Young, coy maidens, choose me on the 
bridal-day. I deck the head of Beauty; and 
the vestal bride hails me as her sweetest orna- 
ment. I ever attend the most holy rite of 
marriage; and my unusual claims must be 

allowed!" 

"Yes!" said an old lonely flower (Bachelors' 
Button), " we allow you look as if you had the 
jaundice!" (referring to oranges.) 

And he laughed at his own wit. 



110 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

A THISTLE 

then arose, and said: — 

"I claim the prize! A great warlike nation 
has chosen me as its emblem, — old Scotia, of 
ancient renown." 

"Is that so?" said 

FLEUB-DE-LIS. 

"I dispute the claim. Old Gaul, all fight, 
makes me her emblem-flower!" 

And the Lily of France proudly looked 
around. 

"Ah!" said old 

STINKWEED, 

"don't put on such airs!" 

And she turned up her nose, in high dis- 
dain, — while all the Floweks looked askance 
at her, and wondered at her impudence. 

"Ah!" said little 

FOEGET-ME-NOT, 

"I am wrongly named; for you see all forget 
me! I am completely overlooked!" 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. HI 

"WeU," said a gay 

HONEYSUCKLE, 

"I see yon don't forget yourself!" 

And they all smiled. 

"What time is it?" they all cried. "Wlio 
has a timepiece?" 

"Why, I have, and 'tis only 
FOUR o'clock," 
said that sweet and very beautiful flower; 
and she laughed at her own pun. 

"Look! 

DAN CUPID 

is around; and he has just hit one of the 
flowers with an arrow; and there 

LOVE-LIES-BLEEDING. 

" Ah, what would the ladies do without me ? 
AVho so well supplies their dainty little feet?" 
said Miss 

LADY-SLIPPER. 

"I know I am the ladies' pet, but not the 
Flowers'," said old 



112 TEE FEAST OF FLO WERS. 



mullein-stalk; 
"so please step down, and get out, and make 
room for old 

Dutchman's pipe, 
who is just arising." 

He looked around, with comical gravity, and 
asked who wanted to smoke. 
"I'll give you a leaf!" said 

TOBACCO-BLOSSOM. 

"Come, choose me!" said 

BLUE-BELLS, 

"and I will set all the air a-ringing merry 
peals ! " 

"Don't you want silver fringes to your 
robes?" asked the 

VIRGINIA WHITE-FRINGE. 

"If you do, I can supply you all; so let me 
be queen!" 

"Ah! you want my blossoms to light your 
fire!" said 

BURNING-BUSH. 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 113 

"Yes; fringes are very good, but you want 
tassels with them. I am in that line of busi- 
ness, and can supply them at first cost, for 
I manufactm-e my own goods," said Miss 

TASSEL-FLOWER. 

" Would you hke to keep a hive of Bees, and 
sip most deUcious honey ? If you do, make 
me queen!" said Miss 

HONEYSUCKLE, 

"and I'll supply all with most exquisite per- 
fumes." 

"I dare not offer myself," said the 

SENSITIVE PLANT, 

"for I always have the chills and fever, and 
never get clear of the shakes." 

" My friends, are you in love, or in sorrow ? 
Let me console you!" said httle 

heart's-ease. 
"I wiU be your family physician!" 

"Do you want a plume to adorn a prince? 
I am at your service!" said Miss 



114 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

PRINCESS -FEATHER. 

"Do yon wish a stiff breeze, to brush away 
the mosquitoes? Choose me, then !" said the 

WIND-FLOWER. 

"Do you wish a fancy kite, to amuse the 
dull hom*s with? I'll supply most curious 
specimens!" said the 

KITE-FLOWER. 

"Come, let me be king! I'll supply beau- 
tiful granite to build your palaces!" said the 

ROCK-PLANT. 

"Ladies, do you not want a genuine dandy? 
— a natural exquisite, — to dance with, to 
adorn your parlors, and have a nice tete-a-tete 
with?" said the 

COCKSCOMB. 

"Ah, sweet beUes of society! Let me sup- 
ply you with shining miiTors, to reflect your 
gorgeous beauty!" said Miss 

VENUs' LOOKING-GLASS. 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 115 

"Do choose me, and I'll ever be at your beck 
and nod!" 

And she smiled in fawning flattery upon 
them. 

"Do you dwell in the \\'ild forests, amid 
savage Lidiau tribes? Then choose me! I'll 
bring down yom' boldest enemy with my aim 
and shot!" said the true marksman, 

SCARLET INDIAN-SHOT. 

"Dear little ladies, you know the sweet 
song, 'Up in a Balloon'? Well, if you wish 
me as your queen, you can sail every day 
amid the stars, and tnily make that song 
real!" said Miss 

BALLOON-VINE. 

"You all need vials, to keep yom* precious 
perfumes from spoiling ! At my factory I have 
some beautiful specimens of rare workmanship, 
• — very stylish ornaments for the boudoir. La- 
dies, you must make me yom- king!" said 
great 



116 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

K 

BLUE-BOTTLE. 

"Ye flowers from Turkey, do you wish a 
ruler? — a right royal lord? — one born to the 
purple? — one of the truest blue blood? I can 
accommodate you!" said the haughty 

SWEET SULTAN-FLOWER. 

" Ladies and gentlemen : I have just imported 
a great variety of new and attractive patterns 
of wall-paper. Please examine my stock be- 
fore purchasing elsewhere. Your rooms will 
look lively and pleasant!" said the 

WALL-FLOWEK. 

"Do you wish to enjoy all the dehghts of 
the fresh morning? — the simny air? — the 
brightness and the glow of early day? Then 
I am your queen!" said 

MORNING-GLORY. 

"Don't you want a staff? — oh, ye fighting 
Flowers! — a real shillalah? Are ye lame, 
and need a crutch, oh, ye rheumatic Flowers? 
Do ye need a policeman's club, to crack skulls 



THE FEAST OF FLO WEBS. 117 

with ? — so f asliionable in our great cities ! 
Here I am, ready for a brawl!" said bold, 
daring 

HEKCULES'-CLUB. 

And, with a terrific whack, he came down 
upon the trembling earth, while all the Flowers 
looked up in fear. 

"Do you want some melons to feed your 
pet serpents with ? — especially you. Miss Tulip ! 
Here I have a supply, so delicious and juicy 
'twill make your mouths water! — the genuine 
Mountain Sweet, and the old-fashioned heavily 
netted Nutmeg!" 

And a hiss issued from the opened fangs 
of the 

SNAKE-MELON. 

"Ah, ye old maids of Flowers! Are ye 
tired of single blessedness? "Would ye no 
longer be called spinsters? Let me console 
you!" said little 



118 THE FEAST OF FL WEBS. 



• 



SWEET-WILLIAM, 

with a twinkle in his merry eye, 

" Would you make a noise in the world, like 
our long-winded orators? Do you want a 
plentiful supply of blarney, — especially ye, oh 
poKticians! I am full of gas! Would you 
make your parlors brilhant with gorgeous 
lights? — make yom* stores and streets sliine 
like the day? I have a factory at home, and 
an abimdant supply on hand ! " said the 

GAS-PLANT. 

"Are ye sad and mournful? Come, walk 
beneath my melancholy shades, and muse on 
the nothingness of life, the certainty of death, 
and the vanity of all things! Plant me amid 
your tombs, and let me adorn your cemeteries ! " 
said the 

OYPKE88-VINE. 

" Oh, I am to be your king ! I belong to 
the most holy Church, and can supply you 
with a real prince cardinal! — first-class, ready- 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 119 

made, of the purest lineage!" said the liigh- 
borii 

CAEDIJSTAL-FLOWER. 

"Are you going to a party? — a grand recep- 
tion? — or to be a bride? Do you want rich 
robes to array in, — oh, ye vain, di'essy, showy 
Flowers? I am a real 

SATIN-FLOWEE, 

and will furnish you twenty yards of the best 
foreign importation at the shortest notice, war- 
ranted not to fade!" 

"Do you want a glass of cooling drink, in 
the heats of suimner ? — some ice to make 
ice-cream? Or who is so useful as me, to 
soothe your heated brains, — your perspiring 
bodies, — in the dry and arid month of Au- 
gust?" said little 

ICE-PLANT. 

"Who bathes the Flowers in the arid heats 
of suimner? In the terrible droughts, I will 
drop into your nostrils, and bathe your brows, 



120 TEE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

like manna from the clouds. I must be your 
queen, or else I'll let you all diy and wither 
up!" said little 

DEW-PLANT. 

"Oh, ye sighing lovers! Do you want a 
quiet nook to biU and coo in? — a retired shade 
where you can pour out all the melodies of the 
heart, undisturbed by the rude world, and nestle 
together heart to heart, like cooing doves? I 
will be your 

LOVE-GROVE, 

to please yom* amorous desires." 

"Do you want to get into a tantrum, go on 
a spree, have a real jamboree, and make things 
lively all around you ? Then I am your man ! " 
said the 

PASSION-FLOWER. 

"Is it cloudy? Is it rainy? Doea the sun 
hide himself, as in the night? Do you always 
want to be in the light? Is it misty, dull, and 
gloomy? Would you have all things look 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 121 

cheerful, sunny, and gay? Then I am old 
Sol's rival; and the 

SUN-PLANT 

will supply liis place." 

"Do yo» want a ladder to climb to the lus- 
cious fruit? — to get to the leafy shades of the 
forest-trees, — oh, ye Flowers of the earth? 
Jacob can, I think, lend you his ladder!" 
said Mr. 

Jacob's ladder. 

"Do you wish to be immortal? — never to 
perish? Then get beneath my wing!" said 
the 

EVEKLASTING-FLOWEK. 

"I will make your life perpetual!" 

"Do you like creams and custards? — nice 
omelettes? I can furnish eggs of all sizes and 
colors!" said Miss 

EGG-PLANT. 

And the eyes of all the Flowers sparkled 
in anticipation of a feast, 



122 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

" Do you lack wisdom ? Do you love learn- 
ing? "Would you understand pliilosophy? 
Then let me be your king!" said the 

SAGE-PLANT. 

And he looked upon the Flowers with ma- 
jestic dignity and solemn presence, as if all 
creation was his royal self. 

"Do you always want to live in clover? — 
always with the dance, and song, and feast? 
Then I am the most delightful, most fra- 
grant 

SWEET-SCENTED CLOVEK, 

to perfume you all, and make you as happy 
as kings!" 

"Oh, ye bachelors! — ye forlorn and discon- 
solate lonely ones! Ye who have to sew on 
your own buttons! — do yom* own mending 
and darning! — with no sweet faces to smile 
around you! — no little darlings to love you! — 
yom^ hearts withered for lack of the sweet in- 
fluences of marriage ! Have you lost a button, 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 123 

and would find another? Come here, and take 
me!" said old 

bachelors' button. 
"I'll sew them all on at the shortest notice, as 
I am a born tailor." 

"Do jou want consolation? — or are you in 
the dumps? Have you got the blues? Are 
you dying with ennui? Does the world go 
wrong Avith you? Have you a note unpaid? 
Are you dunned by a creditor? Does your 
boot pinch yom- toes? Or is your coifee cold 
at the breakfast? Or has your wife given 
you a cm'tain lecture? Here am I, the 

BALM-OF-GILEAD, 

a soother of all your sorrows." 

"Do you want a guardian? — a night watch- 
man? — a keeper? Here I am!" said brave, 
stm'dy, warlike 

HEDGE-HOG, 

looking around, like an old warrior armed to 
the teeth. 



124 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

"Yes, and are you dry? — are you athirst? 
Let me supply you with the 

HORN OF PLENTY. 

"Ah! would you play the hypocrite, and 
seem soft-hearted? Would you impose on the 
sympathy of others? Are you at a funeral, 
and you look cold and hard-hearted to all, and 
seem without compassion ? A little of my 

job's teaks 
will make you more human." 

" Has Joseph, or any other poor fellow, lost 
his coat? Come to my tailor-shop, and get a 
new one, at little cost. I sell everything on a 
hard money basis!" said 

Joseph's coat. 

"Do you want to deceive the world, and 
hide your love? Let me surround you mth 
my mist, and obscure you!" said Miss 

LOVE-IN-A-MIST. 

"Do you want to tantalize your lover? — to 
have a real lover's quarrel, — that you may 



THE FEAST OF FLO WEBS. 125 

have the exquisite satisfaction of making it up 
again? I will lend you, for the occasion, a 
little of my real genuine 

LOVE-IN-A-PUFF." 

"Oh, ye churclimen! Are times hard? Is 
money scarce, and business dull? Come, bring 
me your monks (not monkies!), and, free of 
charge, I'll give them all a pretty hood!" 
said 

MONKSHOOD, 

"as I am of a rehgious turn of mind, and a 
devotee." 

" Oh, ye refined lady Flowers ! Do you want 
a popular scent, at little cost? I can supply 
you plenty!" said 

MUSK-PLANT. 

"Are you solemn, sedate, sad, and musing, 
and wish a plain sympathetic companion for a 
wife? — one not fond of pleasm'e and fasliion, 
domestic in her taste, who always prefers home 
to the pleasures of the world? — a helpmeet, 



126 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

not a spendmeet ! One who is willing to adapt 
her expenses to yom- station and your foi-tunes? 
— one of the trut^ breed of real women, who 
prefers duty to show, and virtue to applause? 
Then choose my 

MOURNING BRIDE." 

"You have no poet to sing yom- charms, 
oh, ye Flowers! Do you want an aristocratic 
Court poet-lam*eate, like Tennyson? Or a sim- 
ple, sweet songster, like Burns? A picturesque 
and romantic poet, like Scott? Or a passion- 
ate and ideal rhymer, like Byron? A contem- 
plative, studious, natural poet, like Bryant? 
Or a weird, spiritual one, like Shelley or Poe? 
Do you wish one — all — for love and the heart, 
like Moore? — skilled in all the graces of so- 
ciety, and exquisite in warm and ardent melo- 
dies? Perhaps you prefer plain, downright, 
earnest, manly Whittier? Or the deep, clarion- 
like tones of Campbell? Or the dreamy lux- 
uries of Coleridge? Or the soul-like strains of 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 127 

Hood? Or the rough, every-day songs, of 
Whitman? Or would ye dream of a heaven 
and a hell mth Dante? Or laugh and grow 
fat with Hudibras ? I possess the divine afflatus, 
— to the manor born, as the saying is!" spoke 
up little poetic 

DAISY, 

his sweet face shining like a morning star. 

"Have you lost a nose in a quarrel, or by a 
cancer ? Or got it knocked off by a policeman's 
club, oh, ye drinking, fighting Flowers ? I keep 
an assortment always on hand, ready-made, — 
the bold, hooked Koman; the curved, patriotic 
aquiline ; the feminine retrouesse ; the turned-up 
celestial ; the pug, and the snub ; the rum-bottle 
kind; the broad, secretive nose; and the long, 
suspicious variety; as well as the perfect, re- 
fined, straight, chiselled Grecian. I can supply 
Turk, Christian, or Jew, as I keep an extensive 
assortment always on hand!" said 

PROBOSCIS FLOWEK. 



128 THE FEAST OF FLO WERS. 

"Do you want to please the variety of your 
lady-love? I'll lend you a little trembling, a 
slight quiver!" said little 

QUAKING-GEASS. 

"Do you ever brush your rooms, to keep 
them neat, and clean, and tidy? Or are you 
all slatterns?" asked the 

SCOTCH BROOM. 

" K you are over nice, old Scotia is the place 
to buy them." 

"Have you a spite against your sister Flow- 
ers? Put me into their sleeping ears!" said 
the venomous 

SPIDER-FLOWER, 

and I will frighten them almost to death." 

"Do you want some fh-eworks on the fourth 
of July? — something brilliant! Here am I, 
always ready to go up!" said 

SWEET ROCKET. 

"Ah! are you misanthropic, cold, and un- 
social, and would not be bothered? Carry me 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 129 

in your button-hole, and I'll warrant you ob- 
livion from all acquaintances. I'll keep both 
sheriff and policeman from you, fi'om all duns 
and beggings, reporters and canvassers!" said 

TOUCH-ME-NOT. 

"Oh, ye pale, cadaverous-looking Flowers! — 
thin and consumptive ! Oh, ye worn-out society 
belles, passe to the world! A little rouge 
would make you pretty and attractive; and 'tis 
fasliionable, as you all know!" said 

VENUS' PAINT-BRUSH. 

"All, sweet maidens! Ye fair vestals! 
Would ye recline in Nature's arbor? — a natural 
alcove, — alone with your coy modesty and 
shy purity? Come, and enter my 
virgin's bo we r." 

"Would you be old or young? Choose! 
For I can make you either, or both!" said 

YOUTH AND OLD AGE. 

"Look!" said the Rose; "here is little Vio- 
let! See how quiet she is! How modest 



130 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

and retiring! Always acting with propriety, 
and so well behaved! Make her queen!" 

"Oh, yes!" said Miss Poppy. "Too quiet 
to rule such unruly subjects! Let her be the 
queen's lapdog! — her pet! — and recline at 
her feet!" 

" You are too presumptuous ! " said the Rose. 

"Am I?" retorted Miss Poppy. "Beware! 
or I'll squirt my juice into your eye, and put 
you asleep!" 

"Bah!" said the Rose, "Keep your poison 
for the Cliinese!" 

Just then a big Sunflower fell off its stem, 
and crushed the Pose's toe. Crazy with the 
pain, she begged Miss Poppy to put her to 
sleep. 

She looked so sweet and blushing in her 
slumber, her soft breath was so deliciously per- 
finned, she looked so plump and rounded, so 
exquisitely colored, that all the Flowers crowd- 
ed around her, and gazed at her in deep admi- 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 131 

ration; and all, with one accord, hailed her 
Queen! 

In their excitement, they jostled one another, 
and fell upon the Rose's thorns. Their scream- 
ing awoke her; and seeing so many bleeding 
bodies and so many torn robes, she was fright- 
ened; but so sweetly begged tlieir forgiveness, 
that all were charmed, and again hailed her 
Queen! 

So, from that day to tliis, the Rose is Queen 
OF Flowers! 

"The prize! the prize!" all cried, at once. 

The Fairy took from beneath her robe a tiny 
crystal vase, beautifully embroidered all over 
mth gold, and, with a charming smile, offered 
it to the blusliing Rose, who, with a noble cour- 
tesy, accepted it. 

The Fairy said: — 

"When thou appearest in Beauty's boudoir, 
be thou always placed in this lovely vase, that 



132 THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 

tliou may'st be seen in noblest state, befitting 
the Queen of Flowers. 

All arose, and cheers of welcome echoed all 
around. 

The Fairy then spread before the Flowers the 
most delicious dews, the most sparkling rains, 
the fairest sunbeams, the most protecting cloud- 
Hngs, the sweetest perfumes, the most gorgeous 
colors, the most exquisite sliapes; and told them 
to sip to their hearts' content. 

She gave them, also, the richest moulds to 
robe their bodies in. 

Thus ends the Feast of Flowers. 

So you see they all chattered, each in her 
turn. Each had a virtue of her own, — some 
peculiar gift, — and each had power to help the 
others. 

So you see, even amid Flowers there was a 
world of their own, apart from all the world, — 
a succession of enjoyments, uses, and gifts, — 
making them supreme in their sphere. 



THE FEAST OF FLOWERS. 133 

Each Flower acted and talked its best, so as 
to gain the prize; but the Rose was as modest, 
as beautiful, as charming, with that aii* of well- 
bred ease betokening true gentility ; with health, 
and strength, and purity, to give high command, 
and that right royal condescension to make it 
loved and popular, and all the Flowers' hearts 
went out to her insensibly, before they were 
aware of it. 

The EosE was the Venus among the Flowers, 
— born for sweet sympathy, born for divine 
fondling, amorous embraces, and everlasting 
love. 




134 



THE FOUR ANGELS. 




THE 



FOUR ANGELS 



A. D E, K ^ Ml. 




YOUNG GIRL told this dream to her 
mother, just as it appeared to her. 
I tlioiight I was rechning amid a bed 
of flowers, on the bank of a large stream. 

The moon was just overhead, and gleaming 
in dancing brightness on the wavy waters. 

Not a being or animal, bu'd or inseet, was to 
be seen. All was a holy quiet, a serene repose. 
I was recluiing, full length, with my eyes 
upturned to the heavens. 

I thought overhead hung four clouds, — two 



THE FOUR ANGELS. 135 

of silver and two of gold, — spread upon the 
sky like balls of fire. 

They seemed to open, and four beautiful 
angels, with their wings outspread, fluttered on 
the edge of these beautiful clouds. 

They shook their mngs at me and smiled. 
One had lovely silver wings, another crimson, 
a thu'd gold, and the fom'th seemed of a violet 
shade. 

They commenced to fly round and round 
these clouds, then half dived toward the earth; 
again, in smgle line, flitted through the air; 
then they seemed to form wing and wing toge- 
ther, wheeling in circles round and round each 
other; agam, for a while, they seemed to float 
motionless on their outstretched wings. At 
last they came floatmg directly overhead, and 
hung upon the air in a charmed circle, and, one 
after another, thus whispered softly in my ear. 

THE FIRST ANGEL. 

I am the Spirit (if Hope. Into your being 



136 THE FOUR ANGELS. 

let me breathe my visions, to make your life 
beautiful in the golden joys of the future. 

In the darkest hour you'll see me perched 
above your soul, to lift you beyond life's cares, 
— make you forget its sorrovv's in the bright 
halos of a hope beyond the grave. 

I am God's silver lining to the black clouds 
of life. 

In every darkness you'll see me radiating 
through the void ; breathing light and joy 
through the blackness, — making every care pass 
away. 

My spirit ever wanders o'er the dreariest 
hours, and, with sweet illuminations, I dispel 
them, and hurl into obHvion all the gloomy 
past. 

Look ! on thy head I place one of my silver 
crowns, to ever remind thee of me. 

Remember, in tliy hour of gloom, to place it 
on thy brow. It is a charm potent to banish 
all grief away. 



THE FOUR ANGELS. 137 

She tlien uprose, and, floating upon the air, 
ascended to the silver cloud, and disappeared 
within its airy fleece. 

A SECOND ANGEL 

then whispered, I am the 

SPIRIT OF FAITH. 

In the dark uncertainties of life, I breathe 
truth and constancy within the soul. In the 
troubled breast I instil confidence. In the 
sad, forlorn spirit, I speak of a brighter joy, a 
hoKer life beyond the grave. 

My presence ever gives Faith in man, in 
God, in hereafter, in heaven. Without me, 
life becomes a cold skeptic, a forlorn hope, a 
faithless and heartless realm of uncertainties, 
a realm of doubts and fears. 

With me fly half of life's doubts. With me 
comes a radiant belief, a hopeful joy, a bright 
anticipation, a glorious promise of a heaven 
hereafter. 

With my twin sister Hope, who has just 



138 THE FOUR ANGELS. 

flown to her silver home, \xe make the life of 
man l)lessed by our radiant smishine, dispelling 
all doubts, uncertainties, skepticisms, and un- 
beliefs. 

We are God's prime ministers in the heavens, 
directing the soul of man upward to Him, 

In the dark night we are life's moonbeams. 
In disease, poverty, and sorrow, we are guar- 
dian helpmates. 

"We make men have faith in each other, 
wives in their husbands, parents in their chil- 
dren, partners in their business, the husband- 
men in their har\csts, and all in their ventures. 

I make men certain that there is vii*tue, good- 
ness and truth, trust and confidence, chastity 
and honor, fidelity and constancy. 

We are the finger-posts of time, to show the 
way to heaven. We are all light, and on our 
brows we wear the Diadem of Immortality. 

We ai'e the custodians of the crowns of 
heaven. 



THE FOUR ANGELS. 139 

Sweet cliild! We each bind on your brows 
a diadem. 

And she placed a second crown upon my 
head. Then she also ascended, and was lost 
in the second silv^er cloud. 

A THIRD ANGEL 

whispered, I am the 

SPIRIT OF MERCY. 

I melt the hardened heart. I soothe the 
criminal. I soften the callous soul. I gently 
instil my love, my pity, in the soul of man, to 
make him forgiWng, kind, and forbearing. 

Life, without me, would be a breathing 
horror; with me, it becomes a dove-like peace, 
a cahn wave, a cloudless sky, a serene hope, a 
fervent faith. 

We see a bow of promise in the air, — a 
radiant belief of forgiveness hereafter. I lift 
from life its load of agony, and angels beckon 
up to heaven. 

Mercy ! 'tis the star of Hope that shines afar. 



14:0 THE FOUR ANGELS. 

amid disease, plagues, niin, and eliaos; amid 
murder, lust, rapine, blood, and slaughter. 

It rises o'er the ruins of life, the pitying eye 
of God, directing us Avithin its beams to a 
temple in the heavens everlasting, where each 
and all can find rest and shelter, — where each 
and all wdll be blessed in the Divine forgive- 
ness. 

I instil witliin the soul of man a spirit of 
gentleness and of peace. I unbend the bent 
bow of vengeance, with its fierce shaft of death, 
and even on the gibbet I oft pardon the 
criminal. 

In war, I spare the victim at my foot, and 
receive nations again in the bonds of amity. 
I soothe with pardon some lost stricken child 
of sin; and to millions who are ready to strike, 
I say, let hhn who is guiltless cast the first 
stone ! 

O'er the heavens I ever bend the rainbow of 
promise and of peace. I ever radiate Hope and 



THE FOUR ANOELS. 141 

sunshine, and bless many a wounded heart, and 
open tlie way to heaven for many a lost stray 
sinner from the fold of Christ. 

Then she placed a golden crown upon my 
head, and ascended to the golden cloud that lay 
on the sky. 

THE FOURTH ANGEL 

whispered, I am the 

SPIRIT OF CHARITY. 

I possess a soul of pity, boundless as are the 
wants of man. I open man's heart to overflow 
with gifts to the needy and the poor. 

Where'er I go, tears of thanks flow m homage 
to my generous soul. 

In the hour of want I move like a pitying 
God, to shelter the outcast, to clothe the naked, 
to feed the hungry ; and make the lone and sad 
heart, wasted body, and despairmg soul, all a 
joy in their satisfied needs, theii* general com- 
forts, and heartfelt sympathies. 

I breathe only to be kind and generous, to 



142 THE FOUR ANGELS. 

make all happy, all satisfied, all content. Where 
I go, blessings, thanks, and prayers, surround 
me. 

All kneel to me as the only God on earth, 
that can stay the hand of want and despau*. 

I feed the body, and so soothe tlie soul, 
gladden the heart, and make the mind at ease. 

I stay back the gaunt hand of famine, and 
rouse the world to give of their over-fullness to 
om' starving brother, 

I dwell not in the halls of revelry and of 
wealth. No! you see me amid disease and filth, 
amid rags ;md poverty, in the low huml)le hut, 
in the lonely street, on the broad plains, where 
want and care dwell ; where gaunt famine strides 
with skeleton form, hollow visage, palsied gait, 
and coughing utterance. 

There, where sorrow, and misery, and despair, 
attend as weird spirits, to destroy and punish; 
there, like a light from heaven, I radiate my 



THE FOUR ANGELS. 143 

presence, and make that scene of horror glow 
with the Sun of Hope. 

I weep for the sin and folly of man. I melt 
with pity for the poor deserted children of God. 
I am radiant with l)liss, when I can aid and 
soothe their wants. 

Sweet young child! Let me place a fourth 
crown upon thy head. Ever, when thou gazest 
upon dire poverty, wear this crown, and thy 
heart will melt with pity for their woes ; thou 
wilt then open thy purse to their needs, and so 
receive the smiles of heaven. 

I am the last spirit that will whisper to thee; 
yet remember, without my crown thou art lost, 
not only on tliis earth, but also in heaven. 

Sweet charity will cancel many a deed of sin, 
and God will recompense thee hereafter, for the 
open hand, the open heart, and the open soul. 

Wear, sweet child of clay, these four diadems 
of Immortality. Let them link together as one, 



144 



TEE FOUR ANGELS. 



and thy life will pass nobly on earth, nobly at 
death, and still more nobly shine on high. 

When thou goest forth in the world, let these 
crowns be as the Charms of Heaven. Let thorn 
ghtter on thy pathway, and radiate their pm'e 
chastened light on the wretched, poor, despised, 
and forgotten children of men. 

Then you can be an Angel even as we are, 
with shining Avings, and a free unrestrained 
flight in all the ages tkrough the vast illimitable 
reaches of God's domain. 

The Angel floated above me, and entered the 
second golden cloud. Then all grew dark 
again! 




THE HAUNTED GA8TLE. 



145 




THE 



HAUNTED CASTLE 




r children asked me to tell them a 
story of a Haunted Castle. 

On a gentle slope of a hill, embow- 
ered in stately forest trees, uprose a grey castle, 
made of granite, turretted with towers, moss- 
grown, and green with ivy. 

It looked as if it had stood there a thousand 
years, — a quaint old castle, hoary with time, 
strange, solemn, and lonely. 

As you approached it, all was still as death; 
not a sound was heard, — no sign of life was 
seen around it. 



146 THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 

It seemed to be deserted by man and beast; 
almost forgotten by Time itself. Yet strange 
scenes were there enacted, strange orgies had 
passed within its halls, wild music had waked 
the echoes of the night around its walls, and 
dancing feet had made old Tune enamored with 
their lightness and gay abandon. 

The feast and dance had raged within, with 
beauty, wealth, and youth, — with brilliancy of 
dancing lights, the sparkle of many a wine, and 
the glories of all the earth were once heaped 
within its vast domain; yet, now, it stood as if 
a sentinel to mark the ages as they passed away, 
shunned by all, a fear to the peasantry around 
it, apparently accursed by God and man. 

A single road led to it fi'om the surrounding 
country. 

On a still, quiet eve, I urged my horse, as if 
by instinct, through this bewildering maze of 
woods, till, in the soft twilight, this castle loomed 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 147 

up like a strange dream, — a weird, almost spec- 
tral, mass of turrets. 

I dismounted, tied my horse to a tree, and 
roamed a while around its vast proportions. 

Here, thought I, was the home of the demi- 
gods of earth, the lords of this lower world, — 
some great race renowned in the annals of time ; 
yet, from those stony piles no voice said yes to 
my musings. 

Still there was a look around it, as if some 
skill and art kept tliis old castle strong and fine 
with time; some legacy, thought I, kept it in 
repau*, or it was a solemn heirloom to some de- 
pendant family to see to its care in the ages, 
as long as one was left to minister to its proper 
repair; and I was right. 

I ascended on foot to the great door of the 
castle, and rang the bell, which sounded soleimi- 
ly, strangely, weirdly, amid those dense forests. 

Each tree seemed, to my musing fancy, as 
the haunt of a demon; and I thought queer 



148 THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 

voices mingled with the dying cadences of that 
soHtary, lonely bell. 

Slowly the door opened, and a face almost as 
old as the trees around, a pale cadaverous face, 
wrinkled with the cares of time, with hair like 
the driven snow, peeped forth in a cranny of 
the door. 

"What is wanted of the haunted castle? 
What intruder dares to disturb the sacred silence 
of this old home of a race long passed away? 
Who art thou?" 

And a keen, dark, penetrating glance, conned 
me o'er and o'er. At her feet, I saw a savage 
hound lay crouched, his glancing eyes fierce as 
the tiger of the jungles. 

I told her chance had led me here, and curi- 
osity and wonder had held me spell-bound. I 
was a stranger fi'om foreign lands; and at the 
inn far lielow, I had heard strange, queer tales, 
of the haunted castle. 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 149 

I longed to piej'ce its secret, and behold its 
inner walls. A faint smile lit up the old face. 

" You are not, then, a native of this country ? " 

"No; from far America!" 

The old crone mused a moment, and then the 
door swung open ^vide, and I passed within, — 
the hound eyeing me almost with a human 
glance, so keen and penetrating was his look. 
'Twas satisfactory, however, for he sat quietly 
down again near me. 

I opened my purse to the old woman, and 
asked her for its history. 

Slie eyed me keenly again. 

"Wilt thou swear not to repeat it till thou 
art again in thy own home, across the sea? — 
never to whisper to any one aromid these do- 
mains what I tell thee ? " 

"I swear!" 

She solemnly answered " Amen " to this ; and 
bade me sit in a large old chair, made in gene- 
rations gone by. A dim light, ahnost spectral. 



150 THE HAUI^TEI) VASTLE. 

flashed in misty radiance around an inner hall, 
M^ainscotted in oak, filled wdth pictures of 
knights in armor, and ladies in court costumes 
of times long gone by. 

A huge carved chair stood alone. 

"Look!" said she. " 'Tis the Chau- of 
Blood! Accursed! accursed!" 

And she rocked herself to and fro, as if old 
memories of the past had stirred her soul. 

"I am the last, — the last of the descendants 
of a once haughty line. 

My fathers and forefathers have for ages 
watched this castle. With my death it passes 
to stranger hands, and servile help will soon let 
all go to neglect and ruin. 

This thought makes me sad, yet I have been 
true to the trust, and I die in the thought, I 
have done my duty, as all have before me. It 
is years since a stranger's foot has trod these 
halls, soon perhaps to be desecrated by many 
such; for strangers will wholly occupy, or neg- 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 151 

lect, this grand old pile, which will soon crumble, 
topple, and be forgotten in time. 

The last line of nobles were called Rhein- 
bergs, — a real princely race. There were only 
two brothers left. One was tall and stately, 
dark and swarthy as a Moor, — with high-arched 
nose, fierce flaming eyes, a wealth of raven curls ; 
a bold, broad, square, high forehead ; a strong, 
square chin; and an arm of steel; with a soul to 
dare, and a mind to aspire. 

He was proud of carriage, and had a step 
hke a God. His voice had a hard metaUic ring 
in it of liigh command, short and stern. 

His whole manner was imposmg and grand. 
He was the best rider and athlete in the whole 
country; a man who dared all things, despised 
competition, and laughed at fear; yet he was 
beautiful, though of a dark and repellant cast 
of beauty. 

All feared him instinctively; none loved him; 
'twas awe that inspired all who approached hun. 



152 TEE HAUNTED CASTLE. 

Even in the day time, when mounted on his 
black charger, there was a strange, fierce look 
about him, that made men tremble. He said 
but little, and liis voice was doom. 

His brother was a strange, almost a marvel- 
ous contrast to him; short of stature, rather 
stout of limb, almost portly in his bearing, fair 
as the day, with the sweetest heavenly blue eye 
ever seen, — a man with a free and open coun- 
tenance, with ruddy, full, and laughing hps, 
that freely showed the teeth at every smile, 
straight Grecian nose, a beautiful arched fore- 
head, with a head full of clustering golden 
curls, — a man born for love, homage, and admi- 
ration, — with an open hand, an open heart, an 
open mind, and an open soul. 

He was of a very kind and gentle nature, 
sunny as the day, loved by his dependents, 
always with a smile for all he met, a jovial 
talker, a free liver, and urbane, courteous, and 
hospitable, to all. 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 153 

The elder was rarely willing to receive 
visitors; yet the younger often coaxed his 
brother to let him have sway. Then he opened 
the castle lialls to all around him. 

Though vastly different, they seemed to al- 
most idohze each other; and Rudolph, the 
elder, would smile at some merry antic of 
Frank, the younger. Yet he seldom smiled. 

There was a very distant cousin that had 
been left by will to the care of these brothers, 
— a young maiden, beautiful as earth could 
mould. 

Ida was her name, a being of a rare and 
pensive loveliness, soft as the dews of morning; 
yet of a dark olive hue, with rare and luxuriant 
tresses of raven blackness. She was tall, and 
exquisitely formed, with large gazelle eyes, of 
a strange, dreamy loveliness. She was exceed- 
mgly gentle and attractive, — so beautiful that 
to look upon her was to love her. 



154 THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 

She became the rage for miles around; and 
every noble aspired to her hand. At first 
Rudolph scarcely noticed her; and it was seen 
that when Frank approached, the hue height- 
ened on her cheek, and her form trembled; 
yet Frank had never spoken a word of love, 
though all could see it in his lingering gaze, 
the hot flush upon his cheek, and the wonderful 
kindness and attention which he showed her. 

His very look doted on her; and he wor- 
shipped with a fond and rare idolatry, as if she 
was a very saint fi-om heaven. Tliis was ap- 
parent to all, even to strangers. * 

By degrees, Rudolph's manner changed to 
all who paid her any extra attention. He 
showered dark and lowering looks; sometimes 
he even scowled; a strange, bitter smile, 
wreathed his lips; his whole nature changed; 
his looks became sullen and clouded; and he 
often whispered strangely to himself. 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 155 

One day Ida was weeping convulsively. 
Frank came suddenly in. The sight astoimded 
liim. He was breathless; he was speechless. 
Suddenly he clenched liis hand like steel, and 
his form trembled with a terrible indignation. 
He strode up and down like a caged tiger; 
then, more calm, asked Ida the cause of her 
sorrow. 

She only answered with more weeping, while 
Frank was in an ecstasy of agony. By piece- 
meal he learned, that, that very day, Rudolph 
had asked her hand. In fear and trembling, 
she told liim she could not love him as a wife 
should love her liege lord. 

He became black as midnight, grasped her 
arm as in a vise, and, with a terrible menace, 
said, — 

"Beware no other, then, asks your hand! 
By the God of Heaven, I'll crush him as I do 
this!" — suddenly hurling a chair in fragments 
upon the floor, and fiercely strode away. 



156 THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 

Frank soothed with his own tears this frio-ht- 
ened girl, and then strode hastily out. 

A groom overheard them in the forest, and 
told my sire, — yet dared not, for very fear, let 
it go farther, 

"Shame on you, Rudolph, thus to insult 
our ward! Where is your manliood? Ay, 
look not so menacing; I fear thee not! The 
proud blood of our fathers is in my veins as 
well as in yours, thougli thou art the elder. 
Go and see Ida, and make thy excuses to her; 
or, by my good sword, thou art henceforth no 
brother of mine!" 

"Beware!" Rudolph hissed from his teeth, 
lilve the whisper of some deadl}^ snake; "be- 
ware thou interferest not between her and me! 
She shall be mine; or, by high heaven, she 
shall be a corse!" 

"Art thou mad, by brother? Is thy man- 
hood gone?" 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 157 

"Begone!" said Rudolph. "Thy sight will 
make me a fratricide! Begone! or, in my 
agony, I'll do a deed I'll repent of!" 

His eyes were terribly inflamed and blood- 
shot; yet, wdth such a look of agony and horror 
blended, it almost made Frank pity him. 

Suddenly Rudolph wheeled and rode off, 
deigning to speak no further, — while a strange, 
heavy foreboding, liUed Frank's soul. 

Rudolph was a changed man from that hour. 
A doom seemed to hang over him; a strange 
laugh came from his lips; and he often looked 
upon Frank with a maniac gleam in liis sombre 
eyes. 

Whole nights he was seen riding fiercely 
tlu'ongh the country. All shuddered as he 
met them, and gave him wide way. A spell 
seemed to fall upon the ctistle. The company 
became fewer and fewer, till at last the castle 
seemed neglected. 



158 THE UAUNTEB CASTLE. 

Rudolph watched, with silent, furtive gleam, 
liis brother and Ida together. As she smiled 
upon Frank, his arm always seemed to clutch 
the hilt of the poniard which he carried in his 
bosom; and you could almost hear the grating 
of his teeth together. All saw the murderous 
smile flashing in his eyes, yet dared not even 
hint of it. 

He became Hke a dark statue, and rarely 
spoke. He stalked through liis ancient halls 
like a lost demon, on whose brow no more a 
smile was ever seen. Hours, weeks, and months, 
he would roam far and wide, and come back 
gaunt and haggard. 

His flesh forsook him; and he looked, in 
time, like a black spectre. The strange, fierce, 
hard look, in his eyes, deepened; and a fixed, 
stony stare, of some strange and aw^il purpose, 
dwelt there. No one dared even to look at 
liim, as there was something terrible and awful 
in his gaze. 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 159 

Frank and Ida were incessantly together 
when Rudolph was absent; but were very 
careful of showing too much love in his 
presence. 

Of late, when he did see them together, he 
laughed sardonically, and hurried quickly away, 
as though the sight was all the fire of hell to 
his inflamed vision. 

He became almost a skeleton: and, though 
all pitied him, none dared soothe, — not even 
Frank. 

A strange, unnatural fear, possessed all; and 
friends — even strangers — began to look upon 
the castle as haunted. 

Every one, far and near, shunned this dark, 
gloomy al^ode; and many, in wliispers, told 
what would be the ending. 

All felt that some terrible tragedy hung like 
a spell of Fate over this doomed race. 

Alas! it swiftly came. 



160 THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 

On Rudolph's face was stamped, as if by 
fire, the spii'it of vengeance! — a look of death! 
— a deep, concentrated, demoniac hate, too 
awful and horrible for breath! It seemed as 
if some demon from the lower world had 
nsm-ped his form, and reigned within! 

Hudolph had been absent for months; and 
Ida and Frank were dreaming in a heaven of 
love, — a love that forgot all things in its sweet 
delirium. 

It was toward evening on a fearful stormy 
day. The rain poured down in torrents; the 
thunders crashed through the forests; the light- 
ning pierced the gloom in a l^laze of vivid 
fire. It struck often aroimd this old mountain 
home. 

Frank was sitting on that fatal chair. Ida, 
on a cushion near, was reclining at his feet, 
with looks of unutterable love dilating her 
rapt eye. 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 161 

Fraiilv was just stooping to toy with her 
raven locks, when suddenly the door was 
thrown open. 

Rudolph saw all at a glance. The sight 
maddened him; and, with a howl like a maniac, 
with the spring of doom, he made one boimd, 
drew like lightning liis poniard from his breast, 
and struck again and again the ghttering steel 
into his l)rother's blood. 

All his life seemed concentrated in those 
blows; for when the bloody scene was over, 
he fell back in death. 

Ida sprang convulsively on Frank's murdered 
body, and shrieked, " Oh, Frank ! oh, Frank ! " 
with a look of fr-ozen horror; and, when she 
was taken from him, reason had fled. 

Life henceforth to her was a blank. The 
race was ended; and, with love and fidelity, 
my fathers swore to guard this castle while 
one remained. 



162 



THE HAUNTED CASTLE. 



From that fatal hour the home became a 
haimted castle, shumied as Fate. 

I thanked the old woman for her kindness; 
and, as I rode away, a sad and musing man, 
when I entered the forest a sardonic laugh 
seemed to till my ears, as if they were demon- 
hauuted. 




Part II, 



FABLES 



THE ROSE AND TH LILY. 



165 




FABLES. 



THE ROSE AND THE LILY. 




"EAR together, in a beautiful garden, 
dwelt a Rose and a Lilj, who often 
disputed with each other as to which 
possessed the loveliest charms. 

The Lily one day being vexed, thus harshly 
upbraided the Rose: — - 

"You think yourself beautiful, no doubt, 
with your round, red, fat face, and your strag- 
gling, thick, bushy body, full of vile prickles! 
Oh, what a dumpy ! You are not worthy to 



166 TEE R08E AND THE LILT. 

compare with my tall, elegant figure, and a 
face so pale and snowy beautiful!" 

Whereupon the Rose pouted with her ruddy 
lips, and thus answered in retort: — 

"I would not be a bean-pole, with a milk- 
and-water face stuck on it, just hke a figure at 
mast-head ! And as for my thorns, I thank the 
stars that I have some protection to keep my 
beauty from being snatched away, whereas any 
fool that comes along can easily bear you off. 
Then where is your elegance, yom* snowy 
beauty, and the fine lady au-s you give your- 
self?" 

Just then, as the Rose stopped speaking, a 
spruce miss tripped along ; and, with a wanton 
carelessness, stripped the Lily of its lovely 
flower; and, leaning over to pluck the Rose, 
snatched a thorn. Piqued with the pain, she 
mm-mured, "It was not worth the plucking!" 
and so left it alone in its glory. Whereupon 



THE ROSE AND THE LILT. 



167 



the Rose lifted up her tiny voice exultingly, 
and clapped her hands in glee. 

Her triumph was short-lived; for a fierce 
wind sweeping over the garden struck her 
blossonis, and they were scattered upon the 
gale. 

Moral. — So fall Vanity and Pride. 




168 THE PEARL AUD THE DIAMOHD. 




THE PEARL AND THE DIAMOND. 




FAIR lady and gallant gentleman, upon 
a ship at sea, were discussing the merits 
of a beautiful diamond, when suddenly 
it dropped into the water, disturbing the repose 
of a lovely Peakl, sleeping beneath the ocean 
depths. 

Angry at this sudden interruption of her 
rest, the Pearl thus upbraided the Diamond: 
"Why did you not stay upon the earth, 
where such glittering gewgaws as you belong? 
Do you think to outrival me here in my ocean 
home! There are millions of sea waves, that, 



THE PEARL AND THE DIAMOND. 169 

in their sparkling light, can match you in their 
brilliancy! Do you think to be Queen amid 
these dancing diamonds of the deep? You 
who are lifeless, except when the sun lends 
you his beams. Then, in borrowed glory, you 
glitter with false lustre, and shower radiance 
around you, as if it were all your own. Go 
back to earth again! Here the gay swimmers 
of the deep can match you, with their net- 
work of gold and silver lacings!" 

The Diamond, with flashing eyes, thus re- 
torted : — 

"Not desire, but accident, makes me yom- 
unwilling guest. If I am queen of jewels, 
upon the earth, down in your liquid home I 
expect not homage from so dull and opaque 
a tiling as yourself. The waves may dash 
around you forever, and never make your 
features bright and clear! Your round body, 
even with the sun's rays flashing full upon it, 
would never emit a spark of fire! Clouded 



170 THE PEARL AND THE DIAMOND. 

and dim, your eye has no lustre ; and it is well 
that the sparkling waters hide you beneath 
their waves. I dwell in the palace, amid the 
halls of revelry and life. I dance on the brow 
of beauty. I zone like a girdle of sparkling 
fu*e a fair lady's form. And even Love itself 
has chosen me as the fairest gift to adorn the 
tapering finger — the pure pledge of a future 
marriage." 

The Peakl thus answered: — 

" Do you boast, so enamored are you of your 
charms? Know that I am a rover amid the 
coral bowers of the deep; and I listen to the 
mermaid's song, as she chants soft lullal)ys in 
the twilight eve. I listen to the rushing sound 
of the mighty whale, as he plunges amid the 
billows. Not out of the earth, gloomy and 
dark, did I spring forth; not, as you were, 
fi'om the clods, and stri%ang to outvie the sun- 
light of heaven, wliich gives you all your 
charms. I was born amid tlie ocean's azure 



THE PEARL AND THE DIAMOND. 171 

depths, and cradled to slumber by their rocking 
waters; and, when I die, the ocean waves will 
forever dirge o'er my remains a sad requiem 
in their endless play. 

MoKAL. — Each one conceits their charm the 
loveliest of earth. 







172 



NIOHT AND DAT. 




NIGHT AND DAY. 



A DISPUTE, AND AN APPEAL TO THE SUN. 



Day is Fair, Vital, Feminine.— Night is Dakk, Masculine. 




'UST as Day was retmng, and had put 
on her nightcap for a quiet sleep, 
Night approached her, and thus jocu- 
hirlj spoke: — 

" Aha, Uidy fan* ! Are you tired of tlie sun's 
bright ghmces, that thus early you enroll be- 
neath my banner? Get under my wing, fan* 
lady; and sweet di'eams to thee till morning!" 
Day said: — 

"Aha, you sly rogue! "Would you have 
me stay to flu*t with you, when my gallant 



NIGHT AND DAT. 173 

lover the Sun has sunk to rest? When the 
Sun retires wdthin his palace my work is done, 
and yours begins. We both are servitors of 
the golden Sun. I watch the working world 
after the Stars have gone to rest; thou watchest 
the sleeping earth when the stars break from 
their slumber." 

Night answered: — 

"But mine is the most gallant task! For 
when do lovers walk, if not in the twilight 
eve, when my form appears in dusky shadow? 
— and, stretching my mystic wing o'er all 
things, they are veiled as in a shroud? 

"But my dark azure bowers are laden with 
golden fruit, beneath which confiding lovers 
sing the song of love, and steal each other's 
hearts away. You, oh Day ! are a cold, chaste 
Christian, and only have one lover, the gallant 
Sun! How cold and solitary in your lonely 
state I 



174 NIGHT AND DAT. 

"But not only does the Moon, the Queen of 
my soul, wave her silvery plumes o'er my dusky 
brow, with a soft, confiding gaze; but myriad 
stars, each with a beauty of its own, bend their 
bright glances upon me, whispering in their 
midnight vigils songs of love and joy. 

"My dusky form is robed in sucli bewilder- 
ing beauty, and sparkling with such celestial 
fires, that I almost rival the pomp and glory 
of the Sun liimself." 

Day retorted: — 

"Dost thou compare thy dusky Mohammedan 
paradise, where thou languishest the hours 
away in fondling dalliance, with the voluptuous 
houris of the heavens, with the constant love 
of the great Sun, whose fiery love o'erwhelms 
me with liis splendor, and takes my heart 
by storm? 

"What are the few sparkles on your robe 
of night compared to the blaze of fires that 
hght up my gay empire? I never veil my 



NIGHT AND DAY. 175 

beauty in a dusky mantle, half ashamed to be 
seen; but when the Sun salutes me, I return 
the kiss before all the world. 

"Behold my glory! Life is everywhere. 
List the busy hum of toil! The world of man, 
cheered by my bright presence, ransacks earth, 
water, and air, piling up the stored wonders 
of science, art, and manufactm*es." 

Thus they continually disputed with each 
other; which the Sun overhearing, they ap- 
pealed to him to decide. 

The Sun thus addressed them: — 

" My children : Do not argue ! What would 
man's life and health, strength and beauty, be, 
if thou, oh Night! did not fan him with thy 
wing to slumber, giving rest to the exhausted 
muscles, nerves, and blood? 

"Would not the flowers and leaves wither, 
if thou, oh Night! did not bedew them with 
thy gentle tears, batliing their parched brows 



176 NIGHT AND DAT. 

from the starry fountain, which sootlies their 
fever, and renews their beauty when the morn 
appears ? 

"With thee, oh Night, comes rest to all, — a 
balm to toil. When thou appearest, thy twin 
sister. Sleep, also appears, dividing thy dark 
empire with her. 

"Oh, Night! What a wild train moves 
around thy throne! Ghosts, visions, dreams, 
nightmares, fairies, and sprites, — all tlie dim 
shadows of an unreal world! — and thoiigli thy 
reign seems like death, there is strange magic 
in it. 

"All moving life now becomes silent as the 
grave, and the Angel of Death seems holding 
reign; and naught is heard but the music of 
the airy harps that breathe from the lips of 
the sleeping Earth. 

" Oh, Day ! Do not taunt thy dusky friend ! 
Though she is l)lack as an Ethiop, jewels rare 
deck her form! And thou, oh Night! do not 



NIGHT AND BAT. 177 

deride the Day! What would the world be 
without her, but one vast solitude? Gaze upon 
the Day's bright eye, when at morn she looks 
upon the earth! See a world of stars upon 
every leaf and flower! — even vying with your 
loves, oh Night! 

"List the melody of birds! Nature, warmed 
by the sunshine, dances o'er tlie earth in a 
million charms. The earth feels the sun's 
warm kisses; the harvest grows; fruits ripen; 
man exults in toil; and all the tribes of earth 
go to tlieir allotted tasks. 

"A busy world moves on during the hours, 
till they fall into thy embrace, oh, Night! and 
are lost in dreams and sleep. 

" My darlings ! Each has a beauty, witchery, 
and grandeur of her own! God made both 
Day and Night. He made Day to glitter, 
to dazzle, to toil. He made Night to soothe, 
to rest. 



178 



NIGHT AND DAY. 



"Day is the spirit of motion. Night is the 
spirit of sleep. 

" Each travels o'er the years, hand in hand, 
to that home where all is light. 

"Ye are co-equal, both in yom* sweetness 
and in your power, and with myself. "We are 
God's handmaidens to wait on man. 

MoRAJL. — Each in his sphere is great. 




THE FOX AND THE GOOSE. 



179 




THE FOX AND THE GOOSE. 




FOX one day came to a pond to 

drink; and, looking around, espied a 

goose calmly floating on the water. 

"Good morning!" said the Fox. "Friend, 

you look charming to-day! Come near, and 

shake hands with me! Let us be warm 

friends ! " 

"I am afraid," said the Goose, "that you 
will be too friendly! — entirely too warm! Your 
embrace will be too earnest! Aha! old Fox, 
we know you! — with your soft flatteries to 
catch silly geese with; but I am an old Goose, 
and up to your tricks! If I am charming, 



180 THE FOX AND THE GOOSE. 

take a good look at me, as I sail around the 
pond. We can converse as well, and enjoy as 
nice a tete-a-tete; and you know it is safer, too. 
Ah, ha ! Mr. Fox, I've got you there ! " 

And the Goose chuckled. 

The Fox retorted: — 

"Oh, you suspicious fool! What are you 
afraid of? I'll not liarm you! I'm lonely 
this morning; and I would be sociable, — that's 
all! Come, now, don't keep aloof, like a her- 
mit; but approach, and be more friendly. I 
would salute you! In truth, I am enamored 
of your beauty ! Indeed, you are a plump dar- 
ling! You are the fairest creature I've seen 
this many a day ! Indeed, I am really charmed ! 
I am in raptures!" 

The Goose answered that she was not to be 
caught by a sly, cozening old Fox. 

" I've seen you before ! I know you of old ! 
You have been the talk of the country this 
many a day ! Your reputation is poor, indeed ! 



THE FOX AND THE GOOSE. 181 

We have all been told to beware of you ! Ah, 
ha! Mr. Fox, I'm sorry I can't return your 
very sweet, highly spiced, and very flattering 
compliments! To tell the truth, I think you 
are a sly old rogue! — a cozening rascal! — a 
fawning sneak! — full of silly lies and soft 
speeches, to catch simpletons with. I am too 
old a Goose to be caught with ohaff!" 
The Fox, madly indignant, burst out: — 
"You superannuated, cowardly wretch ! You 
old waddling, clumsy, long-necked fool! It is 
well you are out of reach, or else I \vould 
twist your neck for your insolence! But I'll 
bide my time! I'll catch you yet! A Fox 
is a match for a Goose any day!" 
The Goose retorted: — 
"I guess the grapes are sour!" 
MoKAL. — Flattery don't always succeed. 



182 



THE CAT AND THE MOUSE. 




THE CAT AND THE MOUSE. 




lUSS once on a time espied a little Mouse 
entering his hole, and softly stole np 
to him. 

The Mouse heard the noise, and tm-ned 
round to see what was the matter. 

Pups. — Ah, ha! my little love! Come out, 
and let us have a romp together! You little 
sleek darling! We'll have a glorious play! 
Come out, and see if you can't catch me! 
We'll wager who will win; and, if you beat, 
I have a nice bit of cheese to give you! 
Come ! 



THE GAT AND THE MOUSE. 183 

The Mouse hesitated, — Puss was so soft, so 
kiud, so gentle, — and he half advanced, and 
half retreated. 

Puss. — Why, yon dear little sly thing! How 
modest you are! — liow fearful! Come, I only 
want to play! I'll not harm you! I only 
want a romp, as 1 am sure you can't catch me ! 
Try, do! — that's a little darling! — and if you 
do, the cheese is yoiu-s! 

The Mouse, thus tempted, suddenly hounded 
out ; and Puss, first in sport, roimd and round 
chased him in a circle, — leaped here, leaped 
there, and gently rapped him on the nose. 

The Mouse, alarmed, took fright, and sud- 
denly darted for his hole. 

"No, you don't!" says Puss, seizing him at 
once. "You are too nice a morsel for my 
dinner, to let you go! I'll put you in my 
larder!" 



184 



THE CAT AND THE MOUSE. 



No sooner said than done; and this was 
the last of the httle Mouse. 

MoKAL. — Don't trust strangers, however 
specious. 




'^-:i> \s-'.ir- 



LIGHT AND SHADOW. 



185 




LIGHT AND SHADOW. 




LIGHT. 

'(3U are always in my way! I never 
send my smibeams o'er the earth, but 
you must follow my footsteps! You 
pursue me like a hound upon the scent! — 
like an echo reverberating to an echo! You 
are my pest! — the daily nightmare to dim 
my splendor! I can not move, or breathe, or 
think, but you must follow after! Why do 
you thus thrust your dark face into the sun- 
liglit of my home? Am I never to be rid 
of you? 



186 LIGHT AND SHADOW. 

SHADOW. 

Wliy, you selfish winner! Why shonld you 
possess all the earth? Did God make the light 
only? In your conceit, you think all admire 
you alone ! 

I tell you, man delights in my sliade, when 
you, in your fierce heats, would consume him! 
He often longs for me; and, if you are a ser- 
vitor of his pleasures, so God made me also 
to please him. If in winter he most delights 
in you, in summer I am sure I am the fa- 
vorite, — so do not always growl at me; but 
hand in hand divide the joys of earth, — you 
in your sphere, I in mine. 

But I deny that I dim your splendor, you 
short-sighted one! I only make yoiu* glory 
appear the brighter! In your passion, you 
overlook how great the contrast is between us. 
That contrast redounds to your honor! 

It is the dark setting that makes the diamond 
more radiant. 



LIGHT AND SHADOW. 187 

So I am your friend, — an humble one, it is 
true, — l)ut ever will I follow thee. God has 
made it so; and thank Him for the favor. 
He has bestowed; so do not destroy the little 
He has ffiven me. The humblest as well as 
the greatest are entitled by the grace of God 
to the happiness their respective spheres con- 
tain. In your greatness, then, don't despise 
the lowly shade, for it is but a foil to your 
brightness. So ignorance is a foil to know- 
ledge, vice to virtue, life to death. The lesser 
only adds to the honor of the greater: it can 
not detract. 

Moral. — Selfishness claims all. 




188 



THE DOO AND THE CAT. 




THE DOG AND THE CAT. 




SAYAGE Dog once treed a Cat. 
Poor Puss, looking down, thus ques- 
tioned liim: — 
"Why do you always pursue me? Why do 
you wish to harm me? I never trouble you! 
Do let me go! You can not eat me! What 
good, then, thus to torment me?" 

DOG. 

Don't you torment the little mice? — tease 
them till they are half dead with fright? — then 
eat them? Wlien you get together, don't you 
always quarrel, and make the fur fly? — make 



THE DOG AND THE CAT. 189 

the night hideous, and disturb my sleep? My 
master often cm-ses your midnight caterwaul- 
ings, that sound like the orgies of demons! 

PUSS. 

I know I eat the mice and rats, for they 
are my natural food; and God ordained it so. 
But don't you eat the tender lamb? Are you, 
then, any more liumane than I am? I know 
we sometimes disturb the night; but don't you, 
also? Hear how you howl! — how you bark! 
— and prolong your whine till old Sleep him- 
self awakes to see what is the matter! Don't 
you fight when you meet, and tear and shake 
each other like two devils in a fury? But we 
poor cats don't distm'b you ! We never pursue 
you! Why, then, are you so cruel? 

DOG. 

So, lio ! Wliat a preacher you have become ! 
What a petitioner! Quite a lawyer! But it 
don't go down with me! You know you hate 
me in your heart! — that it is not good will 



190 THE DOG AND THE CAT. 

you bear me, but only fear ! If you were the 
stronger, oh, how soon you would destroy me! 
All your fine thoughts would then bo nothing! 
Come down! You are mme! I hate you! I 
know I am cruel! Can you expect any thing 
better of a Dog? I have no religion, like a 
man! — no conscience, no hereafter, no Bible! 
I am only a brute ! — untaught ! So come 
down, or else I'll wait till you do! 

PUSS. 

If that is the case, I'll come down while I 
am still fresh and strong; but you have not 
got me yet! I'll see if my agility can't dodge 
your brutality. If I am not strong, I am light 
and supple, quick and active, and these qualities 
may yet overmatch your strength. 

DOG. 

Come down, and make the trial; and success 
to the winner. 

Moral. — Agility often overmatches mere 
brute strength. 



THE WIND AND THE AIR. 



191 




THE WIND AND THE AIR. 




AIR. 

j-O let me have ca little peace! I never 
get to rest, but you must blow upon 
me! But what can we expect of a 
fickle wind? Can't you be quiet? Go among 
the clouds, and set them in a whirl! I am 
weary, so let me rest. 

WIND. 

Rest, indeed ! You lazy child ! If I did not 
stir you up now and then, you would grow 
stagnant, diseased, and die! Thank Heaven 
I put on the lash betimes, to keep you stirring ! 



192 THE WIND AND THE AIR. 

I drive the mildew from your brow! — tlie 
slime from your fountains! — the miasma from 
your home! 

Why, you would rust unto death, did I not 
whirl my eddies around you, and galop in the 
whirlwind! I am not born for your pleasm'e 
only, but as a servitor for man's enjoyment. 

When the fierce rains descend, how he longs 
for the drying winds! AVhen the clouds of 
insects come, how he longs for the breeze ! It 
rouses the stagnant blood, it drives away fever, 
and fills the earth Avith freshness and health, 
bringing roses to cheek and lip, and sending 
the warm current bounding within. 

I am your family doctor. Miss Am, and 
dose you with such wholesome drugs, they keep 
you ever young and fair. You must admit I 
am very gentle at times, — soft as down, or a 
floating gossamer. So serene is my visit, that 
I scarcely stir the sunbeam, whose golden lip 
salutes thine own! 



THE WIND AND THE AIM. 193 

I know that when you spend too much time 
sporting with the sunbeams, and he in vohip- 
tuous dreams, dissolved in amorous fire, that I 
often rudely give you a shock, and send you 
M^hirling to your senses. 'Tis better thus, than 
to lie idly in love's enervating arms! 

AIK. 

Indeed, you are often very rough! — only 
half civil, and sound so fierce a trmnpet in 
my ear that you almost split my drum! If I 
was not insured in heaven, and wind-proof, 
long ere now I were dimib for ever! 

WIND. 

Come, come! A truce to your chidings! 
Let us be friends! Let my gentle wooings 
make amends for my fierce passions! If at 
times I am all love itself, sueing with the 
sweetest smiles and most loving cadences, at 
times I play the churl, — the master. 

Do I not waft to your nostrils the scents of 
all the flowers? I attend upon the months. 



194 THE WIND AND THE AIR. 

To them I fii'st am bound; and if I oft salute 
thee sweetly in the soft, balmy, fragrant ^dnds 
of summer, I must howl in the opening spring! 
I can not always tune my trumpet to one note, 
but I must pitch my changes to suit the sea- 
sons. If I play the organ in winter, I can play 
the flute in summer! You know. Miss Am, 
I have made you an accomplished performer, — 
the wonder and the delight of the world! 

Oh, how beautifully sweet is your {Bolian 
harp! — and how deliciously sighing is your 
wooing moans through the green pines! 

AIR. 

I know I have had a prolonged and most 
severe training ; for I can play all tunes, from 
the roar of the toppling avalanche, the shriek 
of the wliirlwind, to the softest notes of an 
unclouded summer eve, when my dulcet notes 
are like a dying swan's, or like the dying 
wliisper of melody itself. 



THE WIND AND THE AIR. I95 

You must o-wn I was an apt scholar. So 
apt, indeed, that few could tell the scholar 
from the tutor! 

WIND. 

Well, well ! Now that we are friends again, 
I own that, like twins, we play the same tunes, 
and are strung on the same key; and if we 
sing in unison, let our hearts be harmonious. 
So, good day. 

Moral. — The business and the man who 
pursues it often become alike. 




196 THE BUTTERFLY AND THE ANTS. 




THE BUTTERFLY AND THE ANTS 




BEAUTIFUL Butterfly alighted one 
day near an ant-liill; and, looking 
at theii* bodies loaded with all Jkinds 
of stores for theii* Avinter use, broke out into 
a gay laugh, and exclahned: — 

"Why, you poor drudges! You slow pack- 
horses! How you toil! Poor fellows! Look 
at me! See how I flit from flower to flower, 
sipping then- sweets! Look at my \nng of 
gold ! O'er all the earth I sail, floating on the 
airy billows; and my pinions, like sails, waft 
me on. Don't you wish you could leave your 



THE BUTTERFLY AND THE ANTS. 197 

toil, and roam with me from tree to tree, and 
climb the hill-tops, and look afar? You never 
see aught! Toil! toil! 'Tis your life! — your 
breath ! — your dower ! 

"My life is a round of pleasure! — a gay 
holiday! — a dancing whirl! — here and there, 
and everywhere! Behold our plumage! Like 
floating rainbows, we sail on the hours, giddy 
wdth delights! Come, 3"ou poor little ants! 
Come with me, and let me tuck you beneath 
my wdngs, and let us have a sail together. 
We'll roam o'er all the flowers, and surfeit 
you with sweets. We will alight on the tree- 
tops; and beneath the green shade we'll sing 
the time away. Come!" 

THE ANTS. 

No, no ! Miss Butterfly, we can not spare 
the time! Winter is coming, and we must 
pro\dde against the cold. We are but humble 
toilers, and don't possess your gaudy plumage 
— your rainbow hues. We can not float upon 



198 THE B UTTERFL T AND THE ANTS. 

the air, and sail upon the winds. Our toil is 
sweet; and, after our day's labor, how nicely 
we rest! We have no time to be unhappy, 
since we are so busy, which brings us sweet 
content. 

"Wlien winter comes, beneath the earth we 
have our dances, our frohcs, and our feasts. 
All winter long 'tis a holiday, — a continual 
rest. You have so much idle time on your 
hands, one would think you would weary of it. 
Besides, how long does your life last? "When 
winter comes, you shrivel with the cold! — 
your life is ended! Short, short, indeed, vain 
child of pleasure, is your day! A flit, a sip, 
a chill, then death! 

With all your fine feathers, you are but a 
grub, after all! Clip your wings, then what 
are you but a worm ? You have crawled many 
a day upon the earth, as we do now, and bur- 
rowed into the dirt! A pan- of wings makes 
you proud, indeed! 



THE BUTTERFLY AND THE ANTS. 199 

We envy you not, short-lived popinjay of a 
day! Your wealth is not lasting, while ours 
is prolonged for many a day. It is true we 
are not gay rovers, as you are, — that we do 
not keep up such state, — but we are substantial, 
plain, and sensible; and if we do not enjoy so 
much, we enjoy it longer. 

We fear not the cold! We shrivel not up 
at the first blast of adversity! With all your 
fijie feathers, we would not exchange with 
you! 

BLTTTEKFLT. 

Well, well, toil on! I am going to have a 
sail! Look at me, as I spread my wings! 
Am I not beautiful? See how I dive and 
whirl! Light as a feather, I careen around 
the earth! I am the envy of all the insect 
tribes! I am their queen! Day-day, little 
ants! 

And, with a reckless laugh, the butterfly 
sailed on. 



200 THE B UTTERFL T AND THE ANTS. 
THE ANTS. 

We haven't time to watch your antics! We 
have work to do of more importance. Go, 
and waste your time! Winter will soon be 
here, and the cold will bring you to your 
senses ! 

Moral. — Industry and toil always bring 
their reward, while a life of pleasure soon 
fades. 




PEACOCK AND CAN AMY-BIRD. 



201 




PEACOCK AND CANARY-BIRD. 




LOVELY little golden-winged canary 
was trolling a carol one fine spring 
morning, perched on a bar in his 
cage, when he was suddenly stopped in his 
song by the haughty sneer of a magnificent 
Peacock, who was just marching by, his 
feathers spread to the sun, brilKantly lighting 
up their splendid dazzling colors, ghttering 
like a myriad rainbows coiled together. 

As he spoke, he upreared still more lordly 
his arching neck, as if to send his words into 
the Canary's very ears. 



202 PEACOCK AND CANARY-BIRD. 

PEACOCK. 

What a chatterbox you are ! It seems to 
me yom* tongue is always a-going! I should 
think you would split your throat with so 
much singing! Your eternal babbling almost 
deafens me! It pierces me to the very mar- 
row! I wonder what folks see in your little 
noisy body, so much to admire! 

Why, you are no bigger than ia man's 
thumb, yet you roar as loudly as a March 
blast! You affi'ight the very air with your 
songs, your trills, your carols, your catches, 
and your piercing shrieks! For my part, I 
wish you would be silent when I pass along! 
I am tired of your eternal warbHng! 

CANARY. 

Why, Mr. Fuss-and-f eathers ! — Mr. Strut! 
Do you envy me my few snatches of song? 
Don't you have the stroll of the whole place? 
Are you not the fine gentleman amongst the 
feathered tribes? Are you not satisfied with 



PEACOCK AND CANART-BIRD. 203 

your magnificent trail, glistening like colored 
jewels in the sun's rays, — a natural kaleido- 
scope, for all to gaze at and admire? 

I know I am only a wee thing; but don't 
you know the most valuable goods are done 
up in the smallest parcel? I don't wonder 
you envy me my voice; for when you open 
yom' mouth, it is only "e-ow! e-ow!" 

You are made only for display! Be con- 
tent, and spread your feathers! Up rear yoiu- 
stately neck, and proudly strut ! All the world 
will gaze! You are a walking jewel, rainbow- 
gemmed, made for the eye alone ! Admiration 
is your dower, but no love ! 

I am only a hop-o'-my-thumb, but sweet 
song is my dower, and the love of all belongs 
to me. I am the children's pet, who stroke 
me softly, call me little love, and hidi me sing 
my sweetest notes. 

You are fi-ee to wander. It matters not 
whether vou are lost or no. You are not of 



204 PEACOCK AND CANARY-BIRD. 

much account! But I am prized so highly 
that they put me in a gilded cage. I am 
waited on, as upon a king! Don't you see I 
live in royal state? They fear to lose me! 
They'd miss my songs, and my cheering salute 
at early morn. 

PEACOCK. 

"Well, sing on! I suppose you mil! It is, 
as you say, your dower; but it don't change 
my mind. I can not see any use in keeping 
such a plain, insignificant-looking thing. Why, 
you almost drown the wind in your shrieking! 
But I'll march on, as I have lost caste already 
in condescending to notice you so long! The 
world will think you are one of my set! It 
will spoil the prestige I have gained as an 
exclusive, — the ho7i ton of the feathered aris- 
tocracy ! 

CANARY. 

Your fine airs give me no concern! The 
truly gentle most delight in me! Let vulgar 



PEACOCK AND CANARY-BIRD. 205 

gazers follow after your train! They receive 
only barren honors, and soon weary of your 
charms, whilst I am ever welcome, and my 
delicious music is a passport to all hearts! 

I am the people's pet, and I sit by the 
hearthstone of the peasant as well as by the 
throne of the king! I sing as sweetly for 
the poor forsaken outcast as I do for one 
showered with fortune's favors. With all my 
gifts, I am modest, humble, and content. I 
crave not honors, admiration, or respect; but 
all I ask is Love and Friendship; and all the 
world gives me these in return for my sweet 
warblings. 

PEACOCK. 

You have wondrous conceit of your mental 
charms, for so small a body! It is well so 
fine a spirit was put into so small a compass. 
If it owned my lordly presence, the world 
were too small for your dwelling-place! You 
would wish the great sun itself for a home! 



206 PEACOCK AND CANART-BIRD. 

Your voice would outroar the ocean blast, 
the whirlwind's shriek, or the earthquake's 
rumble ! 

It is well you are born so insignificant 
and powerless! They cage you up to keep 
you, and why? Because you are so incon- 
stant! — so unsteady! You are a giddy flirt! 
To-day, come here ! To-morrow, go there ! No 
place or station could keep you long! 

So a prisoner of state you'll always be! — 
a singing slave to wait on lordly man! I am 
content to stay at home; or, if I do wander, 
it is only a little visit, and I soon return. 

CANARY. 

It is not your worth, but worthlessness, that 
makes you free! It matters little if you did 
wander, and ne'er retm-ned. l^o love follows 
your absent footst-eps; but I am a golden 
gift, to be treasured in a wire casket! Man 
fears to lose me! I can not easily be re- 
placed ! 



PEACOCK AND CANARY-BIRD. 207 

I win the heart; and my bonds are made 
with the hands of love, not hate ! I am happy, 
and grateful for man's favors; and I sing my 
sweetest notes to repay liim for all liis care. 

PEACOCK. 

Heigho! What conceit! What self -applause ! 
What honors you take to yourself! What 
boasting ! I'll march on, or else, in your great- 
ness, you'll steal my train! At least, if songs 
could do it, no doubt it would be yours! 

CANARY. 

I would not carry such a load for all the 
world! No, thank you! I am light and 
active, and that is enough for me. You are 
welcome to your fine feathers; but don't brag 
too loud, or else I'll see you some fine day in 
a lady's chamber, brushing the cobwebs fi-om 
the wall! Then you'll be of use and profit; 
but now you are but a jack-a-dandy for fools 
to gape at, and wise men to wonder at your 
airs ! 



208 PEACOCK AND CANARY-BIRD. 

PEACOCK. 

I'll go, or else you'll be hoarse with so 
much talking; and with your singing, 'twill 
spoil your voice! Then you are fit only for. 
the cat! He'll be yoiu' best friend! You'll 
be his little love! And, in most delicious 
morsels, he'll dissect you; and find in you 
only a common bird, after all! — the most 
insignificant of dishes! — only a bite! 

Moral. — Real merit often belongs to the 
plainest looking, 



.>-^ S«- 




WINTER AND SPRING. 



209 




WINTER AND SPRING. 



NE season, Winter, as he retired for 

l^^O^ the year, sahited the coming Spring 

**"^ with so fierce a welcome that Spring 

leaped np in much surprise, and, indignant, 

thus spoke : — 

"So, ho! old Jack! "What is the matter 
with you, this year? Have you been napping 
for months, and just waked up to have a 
growl? I thought you had roared enough, 
and had settled down for a nice nap; or else 
be sure I would not have disturbed you so 
soon! To tell the truth, you saluted me in 



210 WINTER AND SPRING. 

SO loud a key, as almost made me start for 
home again, till I was sm^e you were really 
gone. 

OLD JACK. 

None of yom- airs, Miss Spring! I like 
not your affected surprise, — your apologetic 
speeches ! I know you always steal a March 
upon me, when you can. You like to catch 
me napping, so that you can place yom* heaters 
around me to melt me to tears, and so make 
me a useful servant during your three months' 
reign. 

You know very well, when March comes I 
get consumptive, and a warm spring sun soon 
collapses me into water! You had better 
retire for the present. To-day I am wide 
awake; and defy you, with all your warm 
embraces, and your insinuating address. I am 
old Jack still, with ice and sleet, hail and 
snow. 



WINTER AND SPRING. 211 

SPRING. 

I ask your pardon, Jack, for thus disturbing 
you so early. Really, I was in haste to tread 
upon your toes! I thought I must be up be- 
times, and prepare the soil for various grains, 
beautiful flowers, and most delicious vege- 
tables. 

JACK FROST. 

Don't presume too soon, this year, you soft 
coquette; or else 111 nip all your buds, and 
destroy your fruit! I'm in no humor for any 
jokes this month! Approach me gently, or 
else you'll get so fierce a blast 'twill spoil 
your new wedding-dress, and ruin your pros- 
pects all the season! 

SPRING. 

I'll take care next time. Jack, to keep out 
of yom- way. You're as rough as an old bear, 
sometimes; and 'tis well to get out of your 
clutches! But you presume somewhat. I tell 
you that! 



212 WINTER AND SPRING. 

It is time you disappeared! All are tired 
of seeing you usurp so long a time all the 
hours. I leave you a week to pack up, bag 
and baggage. Then I'll come with such force 
and power, that if in honor you'll not depart, 
we'll tumble you out, pell mell ! 

JACK FROST. 

I care not. Do as you hke best. Leave 
me, now. Let me blow my trump once more, 
and send the snowflakes dancing o'er the earth, 
and have a jubilee. Then off I'll go, and 
leave the earth to yom' smiles and soft caresses. 
No doubt you'll coax out of the earth a million 
treasures, which will adorn your robe of state, 
and make you for a time Queen. 

Moral. — Don't be too quick to step into 
another person's shoes. 



THE BEAR AND THE BEES. 



213 




THE BEAR AND THE BEES. 




BLACK bear was caught stealing the 



hive from the hollow trunk of an 
old tree, by some bees just return- 
ing with a fi'esh supply of honey. 

BEES. 

Ah, ha! you lazy rascal! You great lub- 
berly fellow! Ain't you ashamed thus to steal 
a march upon us, and rob us of all our sum- 
mer's toil? 

You have the free range of the woods, and 
can get plenty of roots, nuts, and other stores. 
"We never rob you of your share of necessaries. 



214: THE BEAR AND THE BEES. 

Ain't you sly, to watch us go, and then come 
and take all in a moment, — the whole family 
supply for winter's use? 

The Bear half hung his head, mortified at 
being caught in the act; and half growled 
sullenly, as if in doubt whether to fight it out, 
or steal away in shame. 

But the bees gathering around him, the 
fresh smell of new honey stole into his nostrils, 
and stunulated him suddenly to make a dash 
for the hive, which he had relinquished on 
then* appearance. 

The comb fell scattered upon the ground, 
and the bear's nose was poked into the de- 
licious sweets, when a fierce attack of the bees 
started him into a leap, while a thousand 
needles pierced him to the quick. 

"You old rascal!" cried the bees, "how do 
you like that? Run for your life, or we'll let 
another squadi-on of pikes upon you!" 



THE BEAR AND THE BEES. 215 

Over and over, roaring and growling, he 
tumbled upon the ground, — kicking and leap- 
ing with the agony, but not willing to leave 
the hive. 

A second and a third attack, more fierce 
than ever, sent him flying, vdth the whole 
swarm after him. Again and again they let 
fly their darts, till he was stuck all over with 
javelins. Then, howling and panting, half 
dead upon the ground he lay exhausted, — his 
foes, spent also with the fierce fight, gazing 
sternly on. 

BEES. 

See, you old tliief, the reward for yom* ras- 
cality! You thought, because we were small 
and insignificant, you could do as you pleased, 
and appropriate your neighbor's goods as your 
own, relying upon your great bulk and shaggy 
liide. But remember, all can fight, when they 
fight for home, food, and shelter. 



21C THE BEAR AND THE BEES. 

We hope it will be a warning to you, in 
the future, to mend youi' ways, and mind your 
own business! Promise nev^er to trouble us 
again, and we'll leave you to penitence and 
reflection. 

The bear sullenly growled assent, and rubbed 
his sides wofuUy, to ease the pain. The bees, 
triumphant, flew away, and with energy started 
a new hive. 

Moral. — In uuiou there is strength. 




SUJ!f AND SNOW. 



217 




SUN AND SNOW. 




SNOW. 

S it not a shame, when I have just 
arranged my robes, and softly spread 
my mantle o'er the earth, and beau- 
tifully concealed the naked form of Winter, 
in his ermine dress of state, and hid with 
fleecy down all the bawenness of Winter, with 
his grimness and deformity, and tasseled the 
gray limbs in feathery silver, and made earth 
look young and beautiful, — that you must 
come and spoil all my work; and, with your 
fiery darts, pierce roe to the quick, and uncase 



218 SUIf AND SNOW. 

me with your beams, and again leave earth 
desolate and lone? The Harvest Spirit will 
not thank you for your meddlesome fervor! 

SUN. 

Why, Miss Snow, you know you are a very 
superficial observer! You don't expect always 
to last! You have had a good reign this 
winter, I guess; and 'tis time you were on 
the March! 

Miss Spring has bid me sweep you into 
the ocean, with all your fleeces and robes, 
icicles, and ice-bound jewelry! You have had 
a good reign, with your pihng flakes ; and have 
made the roads impassable, and kept people 
wdthin doors. In truth, you have heaped up 
your robes in fantastic piles, in every im- 
aginable position. 

You have this winter faudy choked up the 
earth with your goods, and strewn your parcels 
with a reckless freedom that now requires re- 
straint ! Soj now, my time has come 1 



SUJ}^ AND SNOW. 219 

I have orders to unlace you, and put you 
to rest till another year. So prepare for your 
summer nap; for I'll listen to no excuses. 
Miss Spring now holds the reins; and you 
know she is a furious driver ! She don't spare 
the whip! 

If you come in her way, she'll overwhelm 
you with a shower-bath, that will send you 
shivering into spray! I am bound in honor 
to melt you, till you become one ruiming 
stream. Your bound service to old Winter 
is now over. You'll have to put off your state, 
and become a handmaid to the brooks and 
streams, fill up the springs, and M-hirl down 
the watercourses ! I will stir up your stagnant 
blood, and keep you brisk and active. 

Your sleep is over! Now you must leap 
in the torrent, fall in the shower, dash down 
the cascade, shoot with the avalanche, plunge 
with the cataract, tumble o'er the fall, and 
arch in the rainbow. 



220 SUIf AND SNOW. 

You'll be full of business, I'll warrant you, 
and have no time for vain regrets. Your 
new sphere will be as useful, as beautiful, as 
your old vocation. Your dancing rills ^y\\\ 
sparkle in the sun, and your liquid form will 
wander amid the clouds, when I draw you uj) 
from your many fountains, and glow in scenes 
of wonderful and fantastic beauty, — in piles 
of silver snow that look like alps of air, in 
soft spread fleeces of the heavens in flecked 
Vermillion braids, in misty veils of shadowy 
glory, in a blaze of golden fires that stretch 
along the horizon's edge, and even in your 
daring power o'erawe the sun himself, and veil 
him from mortal eye. 

SNOW. 

"Well, well, melt me into tears! Dissolve 
my ice palaces! Disperse my feathery pa- 
geant! I'll not die amidst the ruins! No! 
In other forms of beauty I'll appear! 

You'U see me mock you gome fine summer 



SUN AND SNOW. 221 

morn, as I gem the leaves and flowers in a 
world of glittering diadems! As you rainbow 
the foaming cascade, I'll he there mocking 
yom* brilliant hues; and where'er you hurl 
your beams, there you'll find me in myriad 
forms ! 

In the soft gentle dews of night you'll be- 
hold my presence! In the dancing showers, 
I'll whirl to the song of the birds, and the 
music of the whistling winds! 

SUN. 

I thought you would come to your senses, 
and forget your former state in the joy and 
pleasure of your new pastime. Indeed, I'll 
see you very often; and, in friendly rivalry, 
we'll robe the earth in surprising splendor, 

MoKAL. — "We often shine in a new sphere as 
well as we did in the old. 



222 THE MIRROR AND THE BE A UTY. 




THE MIRROR AND THE BEAUTY. 




MIKROR, very elegantly ornamented 
with gold, hung in a lady's boudoir. 
It belonged to a belle and beauty; 
and took offence one day at being used so 
often, and thus upbraided the beauty: — 

You vain, giddy thing! Why do you thus 
waste the precious hours in so long gazing at 
yourself? I should think you would weary of 
your charms! At least I am tired of seeing 
one alone always! I wish that some other 
person would use me, if only for a contrast! 



a\. 






i 









SI n 






I 




^-^^i^^B 






■-.'^T' 



:-j^ 



^ 



THE MIRROR AND THE BEAUTY. 223 

Do you know that age is creeping on you, 
and all your cosmetics, oils, and powders, — 
3^our stays and artificial helps, — will not keep 
you from wrinkles, cares, and decline? 

I see you, day after day, cultivate fine airs, 
and trick out your body, to catch the eye only! 
How much better and wiser it would be to 
spend the hours in providmg for the future, — 
in cultivating those graces which will never 
fade — a sweet temper, a cultivated mind, a 
graceful mien, an obliging spirit, and a con- 
tented soul! I know I am your bound slave, 
and will always do your bidding; but I am 
no flatterer! I can not conceal the ravages 
of time, since I tell exactly the truth! I can 
not prevent gray hairs, a sallow skin, an ema- 
ciated body, and dull, lusterless eyes! All the 
arts of the toilet are then only false flatterers 
that cheat only the foolish! 

The Beauty, with a disdainful toss of the 



224 THE MIRROR AND THE SEA UT7. 

head, and a haughty curl of the upper lip, 
thus poutingly replied: — 

Don't fret yourself about the future ! I only 
care for the present ! It is enough for me that 
I am the center of attraction in the ballroom, 
am the observed beyond all others on the 
promenade, and am the best ornament of my 
gay equipage when I roll upon the avenue! 

I am the delight of tlie gentlemen, and the 
envy of the ladies! How many sigli for the 
glance of my eye, and a graceful wave of my 
hand? Are you tired of me gazing so often 
in your bright face, to see my own reflected 
there ? 

How many gallant gentlemen would give a 
world to be in your place, and see me thus 
decking my person in all the graces of a fine 
lady of fasliion? 

MIRROK. 

I "wish they would come and see all the airs 
you give yourself ! How much time you waste 



THE MIRROR AND THE BEAUTY. 225 

on mere ornament! What a parlor doll you 
are ! How many tricks you possess to heighten 
your cliarms! And with what artificial con- 
ceits you deck your person to hide each defect, 
and make you outparagon the rest of the 
world ! 

If they saw you as you really are, your hair 
would not seem so luxuriant and so glossy 
beautiful! Your skin would not look hke 
Persia's roses! Yom* breath would not seem 
like the lily scent! 

The redolent perfumes you throw aroimd 
you by the skill of science conceal all defects! 
Well, I suppose you are a human butterfly, 
and will use your wdngs till the winter of life 
overtakes you, and then you'll find yourself 
only a grub, after all! 

BEAUTY. 

Wliy, you cynic, how you rail! Can't you 
pardon a little vanity in one so lovely as I am? 



226 TEE MIRROR AND TEE BEAUTY. 

It is not you, Mr. Mibkor, that has discovered 
my charms. No, indeed! But the world of 
flatterers, of fawners, the manly trail after my 
skirts, have told me what I am! 

Why do they pursue me? Wliy sing ever 
in my praise ? Why sigh and write billet-doux ? 
Where'er I go a host of lovers throng around 
me! They ransack earth, air, and water, to 
do me honor! I am an angel of light! — the 
glory of the earth! — the fairest rose of the 
world's bower! — fashion's fairy sprite! — the 
brightest jewel of the drawing-room! — a walk- 
ing grace! — a breathing statue of perfection! 
— a robed queen of style and art, surpassingly 
beautiful ! 

At my beck and nod, a host stand ready 
to be my slaves! They haunt me as doth the 
shadow the sunbeam! 

Do you wonder, then, that all this homage 
doth make me think myself a goddess, indeed? 



THE MIRROR AND THE BE A UTY. 227 

and drives me by all the arts to heighten 
my beauty, and prolong my sway! Is it not 
natm'al? Is it not proper? 

MIRKOR. 

Oh, it is a hollow pomp, after all ! It is a 
deceptive train! They only worship the gloss 
which surrounds you! Let but disease spoil 
your beauty, and then see the crowd disappear! 
Then there will be none so poor as to do you 
reverence ! 

They'll fall from you as from a pestilence, 
and the mirror then will be your only friend! 
It will strip you of the false lures which 
veneered your giddy pride, and make you see 
yourself as you really are! 

Let not a rosy cheek, or glossy curl, or 
dewy eye, deceive you in heightening those 
charms which soon fade; but rather cultivate 
those mental graces, those moral virtues, which 
alone conceal decay, and make it forgotten. 



228 THE MIRROR AND TEE BEAUTY. 

Age without these is a barren state, desolate 
and lone; but with them, it can yet draw the 
train which in early youth only follows beauty, 
wealth, and fashion. 

BEAUTY. 

"Well, indeed, you have preached quite a 
homily! I forgive the plainness for the truth 
you express. But, saith the proverb, sufficient 
unto the day is the evil thereof. 

I am not one of your croakers! I don't 
always think of winter when it is summer! I 
drink in the soft air! I scent the flowers! 
I bask in the sunshine, and sip the sweets as 
they grow around me! 

My fair friend, I intend to use you as long 
as I am young and lovely. It •udll be time 
enough to discard you when I am old and 
ugly ! So expect me daily to renew my charms 
in your bright face, and make myself, if I can, 
the wonder of the world! 



THE MIRROR AND THE BEAUTY. 229 

MIKROK. 

Well, make old Time your friend as long 
as you can; for soon he'll strip you of your 
charms, and repay with scorn all his former 
love ! Adieu ! 

Moral. — Physical charms soon fade. 




^s^o^S?^"' 



230 THE CLOUD AND THE SUNBEAM. 




THE CLOUD AND THE SUNBEAM. 




SUNBEAM. 



H, thou lazy Cloud! — always floating 



before my vision! You obscure the 
view, and dim my brightness! Scud 
on, and let the world gaze upon my beauty. 
Like a parasite, you always follow me! Am 
I never to be rid of so unwelcome a o-uest? 



CLOUD. 



Don't be too proud of your bright glances, 
or else I'll veil your beams in a dusky shroud 
that soon will hide you fi*om view. 

Am I a parasite? Do I not wreathe you in 
floatmg piles of wondrous beauty^ Do I not 



THE CLOUD AND THE SUNBEAM. 231 

heap up fleecy pillows for your couch of state ? 
Do I not spangle your robes of light with the 
changing hues of the dying dolphin? 

Do I not spread o'er the heavens, for your 
adornment, a cashmere mantle, buoyant as the 
air, tasseled mth scattered threads of gold and 
silver ? 

Ah, if I am a parasite, I am a useful one, 
and set off your beams with my floating gossa- 
mers, and robe you in royal ermine, imperial 
purple, or mourning robes, to deck your form 
when you weep for some star lost in space, 
whose light has gone out forever! 

I acknowledge I hang upon your footsteps, 
but I am not idle. No; I gather up in the 
heavens the mists and fogs, and then I spangle 
the earth with refresliing showers. Ah, then 
you dance in the glittering drops, and your 
bright beams look like a mine of diamonds, all 
resplendent, as if the air held a bridal fete. 

I clothe the wdnter as I fall to earth ui the 



232 THE CLOUD AND THE SUNBEAM. 

soft snow-fleece, to warm the young grain and 
the little seeds of earth, all germs of beauty 
and of life protecting till the spring. I often 
veil your fierce heats in the arid summer, — 
then, oh, how welcome to man! After the 
torrid drought, when all earth seems scorched, 
then I gather in my might, and robe the 
heavens with a midnight pall! Then, look, 
how I rush to earth, breaking my pent-up 
heart in the cascade of raindrops, — an ava- 
lanche of showers! 

How thankful is man for my presence, then ! 
How welcome ! With all your brightness, you 
would be a tame monotony if I did not wreathe 
you in vermilion dyes, sparkling hke the morn- 
ing; for I surround you with fleeces more 
beautiful than ever fair lady wore. 

SUNBEAM. 

Well, well, I was too hasty ! My fierce spii'it 
irks at restraint. I can not expect always to 
have my vision unclouded; but it often stops 



THE CLOUD AND THE SUNBEAM. 233 

my view, and I am often forgotten in the royal 
beauty you array yourself in. 

If I am a great ball of fire, you have as 
wonderful a charm, and often divide my gay 
empire. Only be a little more careful in your 
approaches, and not too often dim my ^'ision. 
You know my power is terrible; and I am 
merciless when I am aroused. 

CLOUD. 

A fig for your power! I own not your 
sway! I obey One greater than you, with all 
your diamond beauty. I am a royal spy upon 
your actions. So play no amorous pranks, or 
be too free with Nature and her beauties; or 
else I'll come rusliing on the winds, driving 
my chariots with steeds like the ocean foam! 
You are fixed in the heavens, while I can 
travel with the whirlwind, sport on the air, 
and dance merrily in rain and snow, floating 
in the gray mists of morning, or held in airy 
Alps piled mountains high. 



234 THE CLOUD AND THE SUNBEAM. 

I laugh at your power, as I am buoyant, 
light, and gay as a butterfly; and can as easily 
escape your grasp as does old Time the life 
of man. 

SUNBEAM. 

Ah, you are a flhnsy, light-headed fop, after 
all! — a mere floating hanger-on of the hours! 
A kind of airy fossil of the sky, so lazily 
breathing as to seem scarcely to exist! 

CLOUD. 

I acknowledge you often robe me in glory, 
as you weave your beautiful colors in my 
floating films; but the gain to your state is 
greater than the benefit I receive. Do not 
chide, as we each have om* time for use- 
fulness. 

Even you, ^^dth all your burning pride, will 
yet sink among the spheres, and be known 
no more; for when your day comes, the Great 
Spuit wall brush you from space as a cobweb 
la swept from a wall; but while the universe 



THE CLOUD AND THE SUNBEAM. 235 

lasts, my films will float upon the air, as 
buoyant as at present, as long as the burning 
spheres exist. 

Humble as I am, I have my place in Crea- 
tion as well as you; and the Great Father 
smiles equally on both. So be more gentle 
in your greetings, or else I'll gather in my 
forces to veil you in misty gray, to make you 
look like old Time; and so dim will you show 
as to appear scarcely greater than a rush 
candle! So, good day! I see a cheering 
breeze springing up, ready to scud me through 
the heavens. I ask no favors, as I have all 
space to dance in, and the wind to drive my 
chariot through the heavens. So, good day! 
— hoping next time to find you more gracious 
in your demeanor. 

SUNBEAM. 

Go, plaything of the hour! It is easy to 
look you through, and see you are like a 
shallow stream! — a mere inflated emptiness! — 



236 THE CLOUD AND THE SUNBEAM. 

a mere tassel on the robe of day! — mere 
flounces on space! — fringes of the heavens! 
Go; or, gathering np my fiercest fires, I'll 
dispel you, scattering you to the winds, or con- 
centrating yon into filmy masses, dash you 
headlong to earth! Then, robing in ethereal 
blue, show all my state to man, without a blot 
on my fair escutcheon. 

CLOUD. 

Indeed! How grand you are, how proud, 
when you are dressed in ethereal blue ! It is 
well; for seldom do I allow you to robe your- 
self thus. So make much of your state, since 
you so seldom can keep it up, for my films are 
even mightier than your fierceness; and, being 
hght and airy, soon surround you in misty 
lights and obscure vision. But I disdain to 
speak longer. Day-day! I'm off on the 
winds; and what a glorious sail on the airy 
billows ! 



TEE CLOUD AND TEE SUNBEAM. 237 
SUNBEAM. 

A good riddance to such a pest! When 
you are gone, I can keep up state without a 
rival; and for a time think I alone am king 
of the heavens ! Good day ! and I would 
that you might stay away forever! 

Moral. — Each is useful in his sphere, — the 
lowly as well as the great. 




238 



THE SEASONS. 



(mC5 




THE SEASONS. 

A DISPUTE, AND AN APPEAL TO THE YEAR TO 
DECIDE THEIR MERITS. 




FRIXG, robed in dazzling emerald, gar- 
landed with blossoms and decked with 
golden and crimson buds, and heralded 
with soft, sweet-perfumed zephyrs, lirst comes 
riding in the lists, wreathed in smiles and joy- 
ous in her youth and budding beauty, her 
cheek all asrlow, and rnusical "vvith manv-voiced 
bu'ds, the twinkle of many rills, and the chuTup 
of all Creation. 

She stood tip-toe, in glowing youth, as if a 



THE SEASONS. 239 

sylpli of joy, her light bound airy as a star 
in space. 

With conscious pride, and head erect, thus 
she glowingly expatiated on her charms: — 

I am the seed-time of earth! All Nature 
I now adorn "s^dth a million leaflets! I crown 
the twigs and branches of all Creation with 
emerald wi*eathings; and my balmy airs melt 
ice-bound AYinter, and drive him — hard, and 
stern, and terrible — into oblivion. 

I carpet earth with green bowers, and lace 
the forests with then- crowTis of beauty. I 
hang garlands on Nature's brow, and deck the 
hoary rocks witli Adnes and creepers. I mantle 
the old toAvers in their picturesque loveliness; 
and make of the cold, bare, uninviting earth, 
a bower of beauty. 

I labyrinth the undergrowth in a maze of 
tangled emerald, till Nature, in her perfumes, 
her gay robings, her spangled dresses, stands 
an muivalled queen of loveliness. 



240 THE SEASONS. 

Behold, how I sport in the April showers, 
and frolic in dancing merriment, as the big 
drops come bounding down in their free 
glory. 

I loosen the watercourses that come dashino- 
down in a yeast of foam, waltzing to the music 
of shivering spray. I invite the spirit of all 
things to gem my bosom with their seed har- 
vest; and fan them into growth with the sun- 
beams, which I draw from heaven. 

Thus speaking, she stopped, and drew aside, 
and look! 

Who comes clothed in sunbeams, dazzling 
in raiment, with burning blushes quivering in 
her cheeks? — with eyes of radiant fire, and 
mien like a sun-god wrapped in his mantle 
of flame? 

Who is this that rears her fire-steed defiantly, 
and, leaping to earth, stands in the throng 
like a salamander of flame? 

Who is this beauty, rainbow-gemmed, and 



THE SEASONS. 341 

glowing like a new-fledged goddess from the 
stars? See how the air around her is redolent 
of perfumes! How the roses hang in garlands 
around her form! She stands, exultant in her 
flushed youth, crowned with flowers, — with a 
high and lofty mien, a very fire-goddess of 
heaven ! 

It is Summer, in the glory of her prime, 
Queen of Flowers and of Light, towering in 
the perfection of growth, full and rounded 
with the matured beauty of all things. 

She stepped forth, and, with lofty mien and 
voice of high command, thus spoke: — 

The thunders and lightnings are handmaids 
in my train! The clouds do my bidding; and 
all the artillery of heaven plays its music 
around me in the fiery showers. 

All earth leaps to my warm embrace in 
love and joy! The harvests ripen beneath my 
eye! All fruits gain luster, and ripen in 
beauty! The flowers spring forth, arrayed in 



242 THE SEASONS. 

loveliness! All hues heighten, and gi'ow daz- 
zling with my touch! 

Nature, so coy and voung in Spring, with 
my fiery beams groM's to perfect matui'ity. 
I am dazzling in fiery light, I am grand and 
majestic in my lofty nature. I stand crowned 
with the riches of the imiverse. 

The splendor of profusion is mine, and the 
luxm-y of all things abounds; and earth is one 
garland of emerald and flowers. All unsightly 
objects I clothe in festoons beautiful. 

I awake the energies of man, and earth 
resounds to the hum of labor. Man gathers 
from my bosom the luxm*y of a world. I dry 
up the stagnant marshes. I drive away colds 
and rheumatism. I breathe into the weak, 
and worn, and aihng, my sunbeams, that, like 
vivifying fire, stir up the stagnant blood; and 
beneath my banner till life leaps to its fullest 
enjoyment. 

The sportive bathers now leap into the 



THE SEASONS. 243 

stream; and the soft, balmy shades of evening, 
invite all the world to wander forth and enjoy 
the night. 

The luxury of breathing the balmy sweetness 
of my fragrant breath is indeed an exquisite 
deUght. A haze of loveliness floats around 
me, as I wander forth. 

All Nature becomes supple and elastic at 
my touch. I imbend the muscles and the 
nerves, and the earth leaps to sportive life. 

The new-mown hay now sends forth its per- 
fume; and the world's staff of life, the golden- 
shafted wheat, is now gathered from my 
bosom. 

Thus speaking, she mounted her steed of 
fire, and, with a whirlwind of sparkles glitter- 
ing around her, she disappeared. 

Look! Who is this rainbow-gemmed har- 
lequin of Time, with Nature's cashmere mantle 
thi-own aroimd him, in gorgeous hues, decking 
his solemn, stately form? A soft dirge, mel- 



244 THE SEASONS. 

ancholy and sad, wails in the air, as with slow 
and majestic pace he moves as if loath to leave 
the earth to stern Winter's command, who 
will soon usurp his throne, and leave him 
lost in obli^don. 

A mournful beauty hovers over him, a wild 
scene of enchanting hues blend all things in 
an indescribable loveliness, ahnost intoxicating 
to the eye. 

It is Autumn, the year's third child of won- 
der. He arose in all his dolphin hues, a very 
changeling of light and shade, — now gold, now 
brown, now purple, now crimson, and now of 
russet hue. 

Autumn thus spoke: — 

I own I am not fierce and high-spirited of 
mien like my sister Summer, just passed away 
and gone; but I hold the stately corn and 
the golden grain in the hollow of my hand. 
T carry in my bosom the succulent potato, 
which God designed as the food for millions. 



THE SEASONS. 245 

The royal purple buckwheat I now ripen for 
the use of man. 

I temper to man's touch the fierce heats, 
that, like scorching thunderbolts, have struck 
him down to death. I give liim ease in the 
mellow breath I blow around him, and gently 
lead him step by step, in graduated heat and 
cold, to icy Winter's arms. 

I break the spell of Winter's tyi'anny by 
being forewarned of his approach. I give rest 
to the jaded energy of man; and before I tear 
away the curtain that hides the bare earth, 
with its fi'ost-king of sleet, hail, and snow, I 
catch one stray beam of Summer, and almost 
make him believe it is Spring again. This 
Indian Summer lull intoxicates him with pleas- 
ure, and leaves him balmy with delight. This 
narcotic dream Nature receives from me, before 
all the winds of heaven run riot in the mad 
Winter's rage, dancing wliirligigs in its naked 
fury. 



246 THE SEASONS. 

From mj veins flows the delicious cider; 
and from my bosom the store of nuts is 
gathered to enjoy around the Winter's fires. 
Now the game and fish are caught for man's 
feastings. 

I give to the tired earth rest; and receive 
within my bosom the seed-wheat to replenish 
the earth. 

I prepare the couch for the Winter's rest; 
and I strip Nature of her million leaflets, and 
unloosen the juices of the trees, and vines, and 
shrubs, and flowers, that they may sink beneath 
the earth, away from the hard frosts and the 
sudden changes which blast the trees and 
branches exposed to view, to sleep and rest 
till Spring renews their life, and power, and 
usefulness. 

All earth becomes naked at my touch, that 
the Winter's howling may not destroy the too 
hea^dly laden branches, which, if crowned with 



THE SEASONS. 247 

leaves, would break beneath the piling masses 
of snow and ice. 

I smother the outward Life of all things, 
which is only their sleep and dreams. 

Thus speaking, she fell into the lap of Win- 
ter, and was lost to view. 

Winter then arose, and, with the voice of a 
hurricane, a terrible war-whoop that resounded 
on the blast, and mth furious riding and vault- 
ings and great uprearings, danced a whirligig 
around. 

As he spoke, his face became rigid as marble, 
his mien like an iceberg, his eye seemed dewy 
\\dth snowflakes, his face flushed red, and his 
voice thick with storms, his beard hung with 
icicles, and his matted locks stiff with cold. 

I seem callous, hard, and terrible! I prick 
mankind like a million needle-points; I sting 
their fingers and toes; I bite their noses; I 
make their teeth chatter, and their forms shiver, 
at my touch; I smother the sun-god in my 



248 THE SEASONS. 

mantle of ice; I steal his fire, and temper it 
with my chill breath. 

Yet I have my use, and good, and glory. 
The air becomes pure and resuscitating. I give 
rest to the husbandman ; I build the cheery fire 
at the household hearth ; I give the long nights 
for rest to man's jaded mind and body; I 
shorten the day, that his work may be less; 
I build up the beautiful snowflakes, and then 
hurrah for the bounding sleigh, the merry 
bells, the dashing steeds, and away hke the 
wind! 

Look at the diamond jewels I scatter every- 
where ! Look at earth's mirrors of ice, a very 
sheen of polished beauty! 

I furnish the people with ice for their lus- 
cious creams and friendly gatherings. I supply 
the heats of Summer with cool, refreshing 
drinks; and pile up a storehouse of ice for 
wonderful use — to preserve all things in Sum- 
mer's heats. 



THE SEASONS. 249 

All Nature now becomes like a rock-bound 
coast. It is her lethargy to renew again, in 
sweeter growth, all things. 

In this skeleton beauty, in this bold grandeur 
all around, there is a wierd delight, showing 
all things in then- true shape, and Nature be- 
comes a picturesque outhne and tracery; and 
hued in the twilight, often looks like golden 
and crimson spires floating in a shadowy hght. 

Nature's nerves I strengthen with the tonic 
cold; and I brace up the muscles, give rigidity 
to the bones, which were relaxed in the fierce 
heats of Summer. 

I am the earth's physician, with my worm- 
wood touch, that builds up the tissues and 
layers the frames of men and animals with 
fat. I renew them in my frozen reign, so that 
they may have new life and strength to fight 
another year against all the changes of the 
elements. 

I give variety to the year, so that an eternal 



250 THE SEASONS. 

sameness may not make man blase with too 
many sweets and soft delights. 

God's wise pro\'idence makes Winter as a 
school of trial to harden us, to steel om- nerves, 
and also as a source of pleasure and delight. 
Conviviality now reigns, and pleasure lets loose 
its thousand fancies for the sport of man. 

There is a wild fascination in my reign, 
that many even prefer me to soft Summer's 
sway. 

Though my grip is rigid as iron, and I lock 
Nature stiff and fast in my embrace, yet it is 
the grip of love, and usefulness, and power; 
and, in a million ways, benefits man. I yield 
not to any of the seasons in my reverence 
for God, as an agent to do His will. 

The Year recalled her children, and thus 
addressed them: — 

My darlings, don't dispute! Each and all, 
in God's wise design, have their duties and 
their merits. He appointed me to superintend 



THE SEASONS. 251 

your power, and glory, and beauty, and use- 
fulness. 

Each of you is dear to me, and I could not 
choose between you; for each has a glory of 
its own, — apart, distinct, yet together forming 
a transcendent wliole ; and the duties of each 
so merge into one another, that one is as 
necessary to the year as the other, show^ing 
Divine knowledge and the goodness and great- 
ness of the Creator and His care and blessing 
for man, — giving every climate, every change 
of heat and cold, every fruit, and food for 
bird, insect, animal, and vegetable life, and 
every soil to suit their growth. Air for some, 
water for some, earth for some, apportioned 
beautifully for their wants and uses, joys, life, 
and procreation. 

The earth appears a desolate waste. Its icy 
heart seems barren and inert. All things look 
like death. Nakedness robes the bosom of 
Creation. Yet thou, my first-born child, oh 



252 THE SEASONS. 

Spring ! with thy eye of light, thy sunny smile, 
bursts forth to robe the earth anew in a glow- 
ing splendor of emerald, with forms of ex- 
quisite chiselings clothing the desolate twigs 
and branches. 

"With thy soft touch thou charmest the ice- 
bound streams, torrents, rivers, lakes, and water- 
courses, till they dance in glee, and rush on 
with sportive freedom, making music as they 
go along. 

The hard earth, rock-bound in Winter's icy 
arms, thou meltest into softness; and the tiny 
seeds of herb, flower, plant, and vine, thou 
coaxeth up from earth, and, smiling on them 
wdth thy genial face, they exultingly peep 
forth, living gems of beauty, in their first 
robings, like light fleeces of emerald down. 

This bridal fleece of the new year is sur- 
passingly beautiful; and, quivering in the sun- 
beams, forms Nature's fairy palace, an exquisite 
wonder to the strange contrast of yom* stern 



THE SEASONS. 253 

brother Wintee, being abnost a mockery of 
his power and sway. 

Labor, sbiggish and inert, now puts forth 
new energy; and all mankind, and beast, and 
bird, and insect, now herald new life, and joy, 
and promise. Nature smiles as at a new birth, 
and exultingly claps her hands in glee. 

There is a freedom in all things, — an awaken- 
ing, a re"\aval; and strains delicious as those 
m heaven fill the earth in homage and in joy 
for this new-born life! And thou, my child, 
oh Summer! continuest the glad work; and, 
like twins of toil, perfect this beauty and this 
growth, till the luxury of Summer fills all 
earth with the storehouse of plenty and 
promise. 

Thou, oh Summer, art a marvel of beauty; 
and thy twilights and thy moonlights are ex- 
quisite in their loveliness. 

Thou openest the pores of all things to take 



254 THE SEASONS. 

in the warm sunbeams; and earth, refreshed, 
renews her strength, beauty, and usefulness. 

The flowers cro^vn thee Queen ! The jeweled 
wheat hangs pendant in thy ears, luscious life 
of vegetable and fruit fills thy garners, and all 
earth rejoices at thy profusion. 

The lame, the sick, the weak, now bask in 
thy sunny smile, and drink in thy soft air. 
The earth perspires, and throws off her weak- 
ness, and receives a new cuticle fresh as the 
morning. The fields resound with the hum of 
labor, and cheery brightness attends upon thy 
footsteps. Tliou art, indeed, like a yonng bride 
in her gayest robes, lighted up with her sweetest 
smile; or, rather, like a young matron zoned 
with a pair of cherubs, sweet prattlers of imio- 
cence and love. 

And thou, gentle Autumn, with thy sad and 
sober mien, beguiling time witli thy fantastic 
paintings, thou hast thy post of duty, as noble, 
as great, as thy twin sister's gone before. 



THE SEASONS. 255 

The world loves thy sM'^ay equally as well; 
for there are hours in thy realms to man of 
most exquisite witchery, as if earth lay under 
a holy spell, — days of transcendent loveliness, 
with such balmy airs as almost makes us be- 
lieve Ave are in heaven. 

O'er Winter's icy form thou hurlest thy 
prismatic robe, veiling his approach in the wild 
frolic of thy hues, and softening his mien for 
a while in thy Indian Summer opiate. 

In those hours of dreamy deliglit, what 
visions come, as if from the regions of the 
blest? Thou art Nature's apology for the 
Winter's hardness, a softener of his rude be- 
havior, a warning of his near approach. 

Thou art a sweet spangled herald, proclaim- 
ing his inexorable march, — a stay between 
fierce Summer and iron-hearted Winter. Thou 
relaxest Summer's heat and tempereth fierce 
Winter's power. Thou givest the world time 
to prepare the fight against the Frost King, 



256 THE SEASONS. 

with his hail, ice, and snow; and in thy duties 
we crown thee equal to the rest. 

And thou, last child of my soul, stern inex- 
orable Winter, the terror of the earth to those 
who understand thee not, but to him who does, 
a strange fierce delight. Man exults in thy 
wild storms: they mettle his bounding blood, 
and send high resolve to endure and fight thy 
strange charms. 

There is a sublime grandeur in facing un- 
shrinking the fierce cold, to stand before the 
storm, to make Nature's icy heart melt before 
man's high resolve or his genius, l:)y counter- 
acting by art his deadly touch, deadly only in 
neglect. In care. Winter becomes a great 
ever-changing delight. 

It is full of magic power to tone our sys- 
tem, and brace our nerves and muscles. It is 
meant for good, if we wisely understand God's 
plan on earth. 

Thy hall of ice, oh Winter! — thy jewels, 



TEE SEASONS. 257 

thy frost-work lacings, thy icy embroidery, thy 
tassels of snow, thy feathery flounces, thy er- 
mine fleeces, — artistically and picturesquely 
woven and interwoven on tree, shrub, rock, 
and moimt, — is like a fairy palace of wonder, 
so light, and bright, and delicate, as almost to 
be beyond belief. I have seen thee so mar- 
velously beautiful, as if all heaven's mines 
w^ere opened, and it rained down jewels, gems 
so unique and strange as to be indescribable, 
and must be seen to be understood, — webs of 
lace spun upon the ground, queer tracery 
everywhere, and fantastic lacings, as if con- 
ceived in fairyland. 

Thy halls, oh Winter, are filled with tro- 
phies that can match the world. 

Thy royal ermine is a canopy for the gods; 
and thy air is filled with floating spirits that 
whisper a dirge-like dream, beautiful as the 
dying echoes of the spirit-worlds on high. 

Wlien all things on earth are filled with thy 



258 THE SEASONS. 

floating down, the spirit of purity and loveli- 
ness hovers o'er the world, as if God had sent 
Heaven's dove-puiions to mantle earth with 
the love, the sweetness, tlie gentleness, of the 
skies. 

I am proud of my w^onderful quartette; 
and challeno^e the universe to outmatch their 
state, and beauty, use and power. 

My children, like the lines of the rainbow, 
which so mingle into each other as scarcely 
to show each dividing color, so beautifully 
l)lended are all hues, — so you encroach on 
each other's domain so usefully and so properly 
as to prop each other, and alone each would 
be nought; but together you carry on all life, 
activity, and beauty, food and drink, for mil- 
lions, and paint scenes of indescribable love- 
liness. 

Ye are all artists of light and shade, gods 
of cold and heat, and ye make of earth an 
ever-changing kaleidoscope, whose glasses were 



THE SEASONS. 



269 



made in heaven, hues born of celestial dyes, 
and forms as varied as the phases of the soul 
of the Great Spirit. 

Moral. — A variety of occupations and pow- 
ers, mingling harmoniously together, add greatly 
to then* profit and pleasure. 







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